The Office of Vice President Sara Duterte continued to extend assistance to communities in Oriental Mindoro that were affected by the oil spill. The Office of the Vice President (OVP) conducts a relief mission in Oriental Mindoro. (Photo from Inday Sara Duterte/Facebook) In a press release, the OVP said its Disaster Operations Center has distributed 1,616 sacks of rice to 8,241 fisherfolks. The beneficiaries of the relief aid were from Calapan City and the towns of Naujan, Pola and Pinamalayan. Each recipient received 10 kilograms of rice, the OVP said. Duterte’s office carried out the five-day relief mission from April 14 to 18 in the 22 barangays of the affected areas. The rice distribution was part of the third relief operation undertaken by the OVP-DOC following the sinking of MT Princess Empress, a vessel that was carrying 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil, off the coast of Naujan on Feb. 28. The damage cost and losses due to the oil spill were about to breach the P1-billion mark, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) earlier stated. It has affected the livelihood of nearby communities, with the spill reaching as far as Palawan, and impacted 1.4 million hectares of the Verde Island Passage Marine Corridor (VIPMC). On March 13, Duterte visited the province of Antique to personally give 1,200 food boxes to affected residents in the towns of Semirara, Tinogboc, Alegria, Sibolo, Sitio Liwagao. Batangas residents also received 1,310 food boxes from the OVP on March 31 following the oil spill.