ILOILO City – The oil spill in Oriental Mindoro has spread to three barangays in Caluya, Antique, affecting 205 households or more than 1,000 residents.
According to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)-Western Visayas, here are the areas now affected by the oil spill from the sunken MT Princess Empress in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro:
* Sitio Liwagao, Barangay Sibolo – 140 households or 592 individuals
* Sitio Sabang, Barangay Tinogboc – 65 households (271 individuals)
* Barangay Semirara – 284 individuals (still consolidating the number of households)
Out of 205 households, however, only one family from Sitio Liwagao, Barangay Sibolo evacuated their house and moved to the daycare center.
“Ining masobra 1,000 individuals ang makabig nga apektado bangod wala sila makapangisda dala sang oil spill kag apektado bangod of health reason,” Lieutenant Commander Jansen Benjamin, spokesperson of PCG-Western Visayas, said yesterday.
Benjamin also said around 4,000 liters of oil have so far spread in the affected areas.
PCG personnel, along with barangay officials, already started manual scoping of oil. They were able to collect 1,800 liters as of yesterday.
The PCG-Western Visayas is set to send samples of oil to Metro Manila for laboratory testing.
Semirara is 68 to 70 nautical miles away from Naujan, Oriental Mindoro where MT Princess Empress capsized.
Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare Development Region 6 dispatched 1,000 boxes of family food packs to affected families.
The Office of the Civil Defense also donated equipment to PCG such as hard hats, goggles, gloves, blankets, bottled water, folding beds, modular tents, and N95 masks, among others./PN
