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DALAWANG linggo matapos ang trahedya sa karagatan, pormal nang umarangkada ang imbestigasyon ng Senado kaugnay ng naganap na oil spill sa karagatang sakop ng Oriental Mindoro.
Sa kumpas ni Sen. Cynthia Villar na tumatayong chairperson ng Senate Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change, tinalakay sa harap ng mga kinatawan ng kumpanyang nagmamay-ari ng lumubog na MT Princess Empress ang Senate Resolutions 537 at 538 — gayundin ang binigkas na privilege speech ni Sen. Francis Tolentino.
“It is an understatement to say that this is distressing news for the country. For one, this oil spill incident is a setback on our ongoing efforts to strengthen our ecosystem and mend our fragile biodiversity while we are undergoing the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration from 2021 to 2030,” ayon kay Villar.
“Time is of the essence in order to avert further and irreparable damages,” giit pa niya.
Nasa 800,000 litro ng industrial fuel ang kumalat sa karagatang sakop ng Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Antique at Palawan matapos lumubog ang MT Princess Empress noong Pebrero 28.
Nasa 77 apektadong pamayanan na unang isinailalim sa State of Calamity ang nakatakda na rin bahagian ng ayuda mula sa Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Sa datos naman ni Villar, lumalabas na umabot na sa 13 Marine Protected Areas at 61 tourist attractions ang apektado.
“We have previously experienced disastrous oil spills in our internal waters, the most prominent of which was the Guimaras oil spill in 2006. The sinking of the MT Solar 1 oil tanker, which carried 2.1 million liters of bunker fuel, off the coast of Guimaras affected 1,500 hectares of mangrove, seagrass and coral reefs, ruined the livelihood of 20,000 fishermen and entailed a long-time rehabilitation,” ani Villar.
Gayunpaman, naniniwala ang senadora na higit na matindi ang pinsala ng pinakahuling trahedya sa karagatan.
“Compared to Guimaras, the current figures show that the Oriental Mindoro is emerging to have more extensive effects. Our past and current experience then tells us that this Oriental Mindoro Oil spill will definitely adversely affect the marine ecosystem and biodiversity, the fisheries and food supply, the livelihood of the fisher folks, the health of the people and the tourism industry,” pagtatapos ni VIllar.
Samantala, humingi naman ng kapatawaran ang kinatawan ng kumpanyang nagmamay-ari ng lumubog na barko.
“We are truly sorry that this incident has affected the livelihoods of those living in the impacted areas and the spill’s effect on the environment. We are committed to doing everything possible to minimize the ongoing impact on the environment and people’s lives, and clean up the spill.”
