Gov. Chatto orders probe on "oil spill"

TAGBILARAN CITY ,Philippines  – Bohol Governor Edgar Chatto has ordered an investigation into the reported oil spill allegedly perpetrated by a passing marine vessel in the seas off Bien Unido town.

Chatto, through provincial administrator Alfonso Damalerio III, said the Bohol Environment Management Office (BEMO) must “conduct an investigation and inquiry on the matter in coordination with concerned municipal officials.”

The order was issued following receipt of a letter from Bien Unido town Mayor Nino Rey Boniel who, in endorsing the police findings on the oil spill, asked for “any appropriate assistance” on the reported spill.

BEMO head Leonilo Lafuente in turn directed his men to go to the scene of the oil spill, somewhere off Bilangbilangan Daku, an island-barangay of Bien Unido.

Chief Insp. Felicito Injog Garcia, chief of Bien Unido Police, earlier reported to the mayor that at around 7 p.m. last January 6, oil from a certain vessel was dumped into the sea and caused “panic to the islanders.” 

Initial probe showed that M/V Elizabeth, with combined white, red and blue colors, allegedly “deliberately dumped/splashed its waste or used oil into the sea,” police said.

“When the oil was scattered on the sea it was most probably carried and swept away by the waves and current towards the northern part of the island of Bilangbilangan Dako of this town,” Garcia said. During high tide, the oil spread reached the shoreline of the island, he said.

Garcia however considered the incident “quite manageable” and that the oil spill is now no longer a threat to the marine life and the islanders, although they agreed that further investigation is needed to clarify they incident, determine evidences, and bring the responsible people to justice.