An inter-agency task force at the national government level has been created to unify efforts in containing the oil spill in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro and other affected areas following the sinking of motor tanker (MT) Princess Empress.

This, as the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) revealed Saturday, March 4, that the oil spill already reached the coastal waters of three areas in Caluya, Antique – approximately 70 nautical miles or 129 kilometers from the spillage area in Naujan town.

A report from the PCG District Western Visayas said the oil spill was detected in the coastlines of Sitio Sabang in Brgy. Tinogboc (one km); Liwagao Island in Brgy. Sibolo (two kms); and Sitio Tambak in Brgy. Semirara (two kms) all in Caluya town. 

There were around 600 residents or 150 families affected by the oil spill in Liwagao Island, the PCG said. The estimated number of affected residents in other areas is yet to be confirmed. 

As this developed, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) ordered the creation of an inter-agency task force “to address the impact of the oil spill, monitor developments, implement measures that would contain the spread of the oil spill, recover the spilled fuel, and conduct emergency response activities to the areas that may be affected by the incident.”

The task force will be led by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Mimaropa (Region 4B) under the supervision of Director Eugene Cabrera. The member-agencies include the Mimaropa offices of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and Department of Health (DOH).

Also included are the regional offices and responders of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), PCG Southern Tagalog District, Armed Forces of the Philippines – Southern Luzon Command (AFP SolCom), and local government units (LGUs).

In a press briefing, the PCG District Western Visayas said it has created an incident command system (ICS) to coordinate the oil spill containment efforts in Antique with the NDRRMC task force. 

“Our personnel on the ground in Caluya, Antique has verified and positively confirmed that there is an impact of oil in the shorelines of Semirara and Caluya Group of Islands,” said Commander Jansen Benjamin, public information officer and chief of staff of CG District Western Visayas.

“Oil is hydrocarbon, it’s a component and mineral of the earth. It was extracted sa ilalim [from underground]. Ang problema kasi, kapag nagbuga ka in an instant ng sobra ka-damo [The problem is if you emit too much volume of it in an instant], you will really cause problems. It really is an alarming situation because of the volume. We can say that, yes, it’s alarming,” he added.

This was backed by Commander Jonie Belarmino, chief of PCG District Western Visayas Planning Section and commander of Marine Environmental Protection Force – Western Visayas.

“We saw black oil sa (on the) shoreline, it has impacted the shoreline. We can see also some oil on the surface,” he said. “We treat this as alarming because it can damage our environment, it can damage the livelihood of the people in the area. Yes, it’s alarming but it’s controllable.”

The PCG District Western Visayas said 10 segments of oil spill boom, oil skimmer, and 15 responders trained on oil spill containment operations were deployed to Antique to prevent the spillage from spreading into other areas. Caluya is approximately 80 nautical miles from the world famous Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan.

“As long as ang oil nasa dagat (oil is on the sea), there is a lot of possibility na (that) it continues moving. So our action is we continue monitoring until we conduct combatting [operation] sa areas na ma-spot natin ang oil spill (in the areas where we spot an oil spill),” Belarmino said.

Belarmino explained that it is important to recover the spilt oil from the water to avoid the emulsification of oil. Emulsification occurs when oil is mixed with water.

“Ang volume niya, it will increase into 80 percent. Kung nagspill siya ng four liters at mahaluan siya ng tubig, lalaki siya. Emulsify ang tawag dito (The volume will increase by 80 percent. If you have a spillage of four liters and it mixes with water, it will increase. That’s emulsification),” he said.

MT Princess Empress contained 800,000 liters of industrial cargo fuel when it sank off Naujan on Feb. 28. 

The primary challenge for the responders is the weather in Antique since there exists a gale warning in the province. Responders couldn’t put the oil spill booms in place yet to contain the spillage since it will be carried away by strong current and wind.

“In coordination with our counterparts from the LGU, we consistently assess the extent of damage to the livelihood, and we consider the health and situation there. We activated a plan with the OCD and DSWD in case we need to evacuate [residents],” Benjamin said.