EDITORIAL - Environmental disaster

As the sunken motor tanker Princess Empress continues to spill toxic industrial oil into the country’s western seaboard, threatening the Verde Island Passage in Batangas as well as the pristine waters of Palawan, the government is belatedly verifying if the vessel was even authorized to set sail.

Yesterday the Philippine Coast Guard said it was investigating the authenticity of a document presented to PCG personnel, which allowed the Princess Empress to sail at least four times from the ports of Manila, Bataan, Iloilo and Misamis Oriental before it sank off Naujan town in Oriental Mindoro on Feb. 28. Search teams believe the vessel has settled in a spot about 400 meters deep, making recovery and plugging of any oil leak challenging.

Officials of the Maritime Industry Authority had told the Senate, which is conducting an inquiry into the environmental disaster, that the Princess Empress did not have a permit to operate. The PCG, on the other hand, said the vessel’s owner, RDC Reield Marine Services, had presented a document that made the Coast Guard clear the vessel for sailing.

Apparently, the document presented by the ship owner was not a certificate of public convenience that the Marina issues, but a decision of the agency dated Nov. 16, 2022, allowing the amendment of the CPC issued to RDC Reield Marine Services so the Princess Empress, which was commissioned last year, would be included in the company’s fleet. Is this document valid for sailing and transporting cargo?

PCG officials said they presumed regularity in the document in clearing the motor tanker several times for sailing. The Marina said the document is not the valid permit.

Determining the validity of the authorization to sail will have to be added to the issues that must be addressed in holding the company accountable for one of the country’s worst environmental disasters. The Office of Civil Defense estimates that over 108,000 people in 118 barangays in Oriental Mindoro and Palawan have now been affected by the oil spill. As of yesterday, nearly 32,000 families in 68 areas in MIMAROPA and Western Visayas have been affected, according to the OCD.

The black gunk has ruined fishing and tourism in coastal communities, and has affected public health, with at least 122 residents reporting respiratory and skin problems as well as eye infections. It could cause serious damage to marine life in the Verde Island Passage, which is recognized as the center of global shore-fish biodiversity. The government must ensure that there will be accountability in this environmental disaster.