The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) confirmed Monday, March 20, that traces of oil spill suspectedly from the sunken motor tanker (MT) Princess Empress in Oriental Mindoro have already reached Verde Island in Batangas City, threatening one of the country’s primary marine reserves.

The Verde Island Passage (VIP) – which covers the Verde Island, Calapan in Oriental Mindoro, and parts of Batangas province – has the “highest concentration of coastal fishes, corals, crustaceans, molluscs, seagrasses and mangroves,” according to experts from the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UP-MSI). It is also “home to endangered and threatened species such as hawksbill turtle, whale sharks, manta rays, dugongs, humphead wrasses, giant groupers, and giant clams,” the group added.

“Yes, it is confirmed, we have sightings here in Isla Verde particularly in Barangays Agapito and Santo Domingo,” Captain Victorino Acosta, station commander of Coast Guard Station Batangas, said in Filipino in a radio interview with dzBB. 

Acosta said they have seen oil sheens, or the shiny and rainbow-colored particles which appear at the surface of the water due to an oil spill, on the coastal area of Verde Island. 

The PCG Batangas immediately installed improvised spill booms to prevent the oil slick from spreading, Acosta said. However, he added: "We always anticipate the worst case scenario."

Over at the PCG headquarters in Port Area, Manila, PCG Commandant Adm. Artemio Abu said they immediately deployed coast guard evaluators to fly over Verde Island and assess the situation there.

“We received information that there are sightings on Verde Island. We flew a chopper so we can quickly determine [the situation],” Abu said. 

Abu noted that the direction of the wind and the current must have resulted to the spill reaching Verde Island. This is consistent with the earlier warning of the UP-MSI last week that the oil slick could reach the island and other parts of Batangas due to the change in wind direction caused by the weakening of the ‘’amihan’’ or northeast monsoon.

As this developed, Abu welcomed officials from the US Coast Guard Pacific Strike Team led by Commanding Officer Stacey Crecy and Japan Disaster Response Expert Team headed by Daisuke Nihei at the PCG headquarters.

Japanese dynamic positioning vessel (DPV) Shin Nichi Maru, which was hired by the owner of the sunken MT Princess Empress, RDC Reield Marine Services, Inc., also arrived in Oriental Mindoro around 8 a.m. Monday, bringing a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) or an underwater robot to locate the tanker and contain the leakage, Abu said.

“Their arrival is very timely, it is on-the-dot. They said that they will arrive at 8 a.m. on Monday, and they did. They were in the vicinity,” Abu said.

The PCG chief said that the experts from the US and Japan will assist in the massive oil spill cleanup operations.

Experts from South Korea have also expressed readiness to extend help to the PCG, said PCG spokesperson Rear Adm. Armando Balilo.

As of March 18, the PCG has already collected 6,803 liters of oily water mixture and 65 sacks of oil-contaminated materials in its offshore response; and 22 drums and 1,898 sacks of oil-contaminated materials in its shoreline operations.

MT Princess Empress was carrying 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil when it capsized off Naujan, Oriental Mindoro on Feb. 28.

Meanwhile, a total of 151,463 individuals or 32,661 families have already been affected by the oil spill in 131 barangays in Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, and Antique as of March 20, data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) showed.

There is no fishing ban in effect in Batangas but Acosta said they will recommend to the local government unit to advise residents to temporarily stop fishing expeditions.

"As to the livelihood of the people, we are coordinating with the DSWD [Department of Social Welfare and Development] so they can help the people by providing relief aid," he stated.