PCG to file charges vs Petron, oil tanker owner

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Friday said it will file charges against oil firm Petron and the owner of a motor tanker for preventing its personnel from inspecting the pipelines in relation to their investigation on an oil spill on Rosario, Cavite.

PCG spokesperson Armand Balilo said that at least 12 villages in Rosario town have been affected by the oil spill, which supposedly came from MT Makisig of the Herma Shipping Transport Corporation.

Commodore Joel Garcia of the PCG's Marine Environmental Protection Unit said that they will lodge an obstruction of justice case against Petron and Herma Shipping Transport Corporation for refusing to allow their personnel to take an oil sample from their containers.

After taking the sample, the PCG would compare it to the sample taken from the affected villages, where personnel from Garcia's unit are now deployed to prevent the oil spill from spreading to the nearby town of Tanza.

The PCG said that at least 500,000 liters of oil have spread to the 12 villages.

Fisherfolk group Pamalakaya, meanwhile, reported that the oil spill has already spread to several coastal villages of Tanza.

"The probe should zero in on Petron Corporation and MT Makisig which is commissioned by the oil giant to carry fuel and transport it to a Petron plant through an underwater pipe line," Pamalakaya vice chairperson Salvador France said.

France said a parallel and independent investigation should be conducted, which is separate from the probe currently being undertaken by the PCG.

Pamalakaya estimates that around 10,000 fishermen in Rosario and Tanza will be affected by the oil spill.