Government agencies ought to establish protocols that can be followed whenever there's an environmental disaster, like the oil spill triggered by the MT Princess Empress, says Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan.
It's been three months since the oil tanker sank off Oriental Mindoro.
Protocols! Solon prods agencies to come up with action plan for environmental disasters
May 30, 2023 05:17 AM
At a glance
Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan (Facebook)
A rookie congressman told a handful of government agencies to "get their acts together"--literally--in a bid to establish protocols that can be followed in case of environmental disasters like the MT Princess Empress oil spill.
Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan made this call Monday, May 29 to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and other agencies involved in handling the effects of Feb. 28 oil spill.
“Ilang oil spills na ba ang nangyari sa buong Pilipinas? Wala pa rin tayong nabubuo na established protocols na talagang susundan natin. Kasi hindi natin maso-solve ang problema kapag ganito (How many oil spills have happened in the entire Philippines? Up to now we have not yet formed established protocols that we can follow. We cannot solve the problem in this manner),” Yamsuan said during the joint hearing conducted by the House Committees on Ecology and on Natural Resources.
He observed during the hearing that resource persons from various government agencies were seemingly uncoordinated in their efforts to address the MT Princess Empress disaster three months after the fact.
“I suggest that you get your acts together,” Yamsuan said.
The oil tanker capsized off Oriental Mindoro and spilled 800,000 liters of industrial fuel into the local waters. Close to 41,000 families have been affected along the shoreline communities, while over 200 people have fallen ill.
The issue of food safety, for one, illicited different responses from the DENR and BFAR. The area of the oil spill is a rich fishing ground that provides food and livelihood to more than two million people.
“it’s high time for us to change our mindset. We should not be reactionary. Hindi yung pag may mga ganitong hearing nagtuturuan (Not like this, where you point fingers at each other when we conduct hearings)," Yamsuan said.
According to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), traces of the spillage had reached Verde Island in Batangas City, which is at the heart of the Verde Island Passage (VIP). The VIP is recognized as the center of global shorefish biodiversity.