Persons affected by the oil spill in Oriental Mindoro may receive only a total of $284 million payment from the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC), the Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Wednesday, April 26. “The maximum coverage for the oil spill based on the IOPC would only be up to 203 million SDR (special drawing rights) or in United States dollars it would be $284million,” said DOJ Undersecretary Raul T. Vasquez during an interview on ANC. Vasquez explained the recoverable amount is pursuant to the Protocol of the International Convention for Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage where the Philippines is a state party. He said that the IOPC has “some kind of mutual fund” that is “participated in by all maritime industry member states.” “Everybody contributes and the fund would be the source of the payment for all the claims in respect to oil pollution,” he also said. The DOJ has been leading the inter-agency dialogue over the oil spill caused by MT Princess Empress which sank off the waters of Oriental Mindoro last Feb. 28 after allegedly ignoring gale warnings. The latest dialogue was held Tuesday, April 25, at the DOJ which was attended for the first time by IOPC Director Gaute Sivertsen. Vasquez noted there is an ongoing compensation caravan at the affected areas in Oriental Mindoro. “That is the reason why the IOPC sent its representatives recently and the idea is for them to verify, to go to the ground and check the veracity of claims,” he said. “They would then bring all these claims to the United Kingdom where the IOPC holds office for the vetting, assessment and verification of all the claims,” he added. He pointed out that anybody affected by the oil spill is entitled to file his or her claim. He said, however, that “the claims that are on the table are just claims from the affected fisherfolks in respect to lost income and all that.” The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) “has estimated the claims at P500 million already for the fisherfolks,” he said.  The government also intends to seek compensation for restoration efforts, he added. “There will be an inter-agency determination of how much would the claim be against the IOPC funds,” he stressed. Vasquez noted that there are three levels of compensation provided for under the Convention with the first level to be provided for by the ship owner through the insurer. “With respect to the insurer, there is a so-called amount of 4.5 million special drawing rights,” he said.  Should the compensation being asked breaches this amount, he said only then that the $284 million will be tapped. He said there is an existing protocol that would allow the payment of up to 750 SDR. But “the Philippines is not a signatory to that,” he lamented.