Philippines to set up fund to tackle oil spills

MANILA (AFP) - The Philippines is to establish a fund to cover the cost of cleaning up oil spills and compensating for the damage they cause under a bill that became law on Monday.

"The usual finger-pointing on who should shoulder the cost of emergency containment and clean-up operations and for compensating damages to health and livelihood during oil spill incidents is about to end," said Senator Pia Cayetano, the bill's author.

The Oil Pollution Compensation Act comes 10 months after the worst oil spill in the country's history, when a tanker carrying 500,000 gallons (2.27 million litres) of industrial oil sank off the coast of Guimaras.

The disaster in the central Philippines polluted hundreds of kilometers (miles) of beaches, mangroves and marine reserves and cost thousands of fishermen their livelihoods.

The government was widely criticised for its slow response to the spill, but the new law aims to address similar problems in the future, Cayetano said in a statement.

The law puts in place a mechanism for the prevention, abatement, mitigation and control of oil pollution, she said.

Under the act, an Oil Pollution Management Fund will be set up to cover containment and clean-up operations by the Philippine Coast Guard after an oil spill.

Firms transporting over 150,000 tons (136,000 tonnes) of oil by sea annually must contribute to the new fund and, by existing global convention, to the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund.

The bill was passed by Congress in February and sent to the palace on May 4 to be signed by the president. Any bill the president does not veto within 30 days automatically becomes law.