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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Quality of drinking water in Oriental Mindoro under DOH surveillance – OCD

Quality of drinking water in Oriental Mindoro under DOH surveillance – OCD

Published Apr 21, 2023 08:19 am
The Department of Health (DOH) is monitoring the quality of drinking water in Oriental Mindoro amid the massive oil spill in the province that has since spread to other areas. (Office of Civil Defense Administrator, Assistant Secretary Ariel Nepomuceno speaks during a coordination meeting of the National Task Force Mindoro at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on April 20, 2023. Photo by OCD) This was among the things reported by the National Task Force (NTF) Mindoro, an inter-agency group created to address the impacts of the oil spill, when its member-agencies, chaired by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), held a coordination meeting on Thursday, April 20. The meeting was presided by Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno, OCD Administrator, at the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Operations Center in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.  It was attended by representatives from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), both co-chairs; and member-agencies DOH, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Agriculture (DA), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR). Officers of the RDC Reield Marine Services (owner of MT Princess Empress), Harbor Star (onshore contractor), and P&I Correspondent Aqueous Inc. (insurance company) also attended the meeting.  During the meeting, it was bared that the DOH has been monitoring the quality of drinking water in Oriental Mindoro following the sinking of motor tanker MT Princess Empress off Naujan town on Feb. 28, and the consequent leakage of 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil that it was carrying. “Reporting on the quality of water, the Department of Health said that it will continue surveillance of drinking water sources and exposed individuals, and conduct health impact assessment along with the issuance of regular health advisories,” Assistant Secretary Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV, OCD deputy administrator for operations, said on Friday, April 21. Based on a situational report of the NDRRMC released on Friday, at least 208 individuals suffered from different illnesses in the municipality of Pola since the oil spill occurred in Oriental Mindoro.  The symptoms experienced by the patients ranged from abdominal pain, chest pain, lower bowel movement (LBM), and vomiting among others but all of them have already recovered. However, it has yet to be confirmed whether these symptoms were connected to the quality of the drinking water in the area. “The DOH and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources are set to release another joint statement early next week on the water quality in certain areas of Puerto Galera,” Alejandro added. Nonetheless, Alejandro noted that the DOH has already provided “health commodities, supplies, and services” to the affected areas. The oil spill has affected a total of 40,897 families or 193,436 individuals in Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Antique, and Batangas as of April 21.

Oil spill response

 Meanwhile, Alejandro said that DA-BFAR will provide a complete set of data results on fish testing in oil spill-affected areas by the second week of May. It can be recalled that BFAR banned fishing activities and cautioned communities on the dangerous pollutants found in fish samples. The DSWD also reported during the coordination meeting that it has provided more than P262.3 million worth of assistance to the affected communities. The aid came in the form of family food packs, non-food items, and cash assistance. The PCG, for its part, said that it will continue its joint shoreline surveys and analysis of the findings of remotely operated vehicle (ROV) during underwater inspections to drain the leaking oil from the sunken motor tanker (MT) Princess Empress. The DENR also presented a list of programs based on its oil spill recovery plan harmonization activity which will be turned over to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and OCD so that communities could immediately get back up from the setbacks caused by the incident.  On international assistance, Alejandro said that the DFA has been coordinating with France after it expressed commitment to help in the oil spill response.  The DFA was also in contact with the United States government to request the standards required for the fingerprinting of the oil and explore ways whether it can be included in the diplomatic pouch for the call for international assistance. Oil spill fingerprinting and matching is important for oil classification to determine whether oil samples collected in certain areas match with the source of the oil spill.

Related Tags

Oriental Mindoro OCD-6 oil spill M/T Princess Empress
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