ILOILO City – The island municipality of Caluya in Antique province has been placed under a state of calamity due to oil spill within its territorial waters caused by the sunken MT Princess Empress.
The Sangguniang Bayan (SB) of Caluya, in a special session yesterday, approved Resolution No. 31–2023 declaring the state of calamity.
“The municipality calls for an immediate response and intervention from national agencies, technical experts and stakeholders…to avoid widespread contamination…,” read part of the resolution.
As of 2 p.m. yesterday, the number of oil spill-affected families reached 7,198 or 25,733 individuals from four areas in Caluya:
* Barangay Alegria – 900 families or 3,713 individuals
* Sitio Liwagao, Barangay Sibolo – 149 families or 628 individuals
* Sitio Sabang, Barangay Tinogboc – 967 families or 3,575 individuals
* Semirara island – 5,212 families or 17,817 individuals
Residents, fishermen, shell collectors, and seaweed farmers along the coast of the affected areas, and also those from barangays Imba and Sibato, depend heavily on the oil spill-affected waters for their livelihood.
MT Princess Empress owned by RDC Reield Marine Services Inc. was carrying around 800,000 liters of industrial fuel en route to Iloilo from Batangas when it sank off the coast of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro on Feb. 28.
The Caluya SB further expressed worries the contamination of the municipal waters, marine protected areas, as well as marine resources can lead to widespread environmental and health hazards.
Malay town on heightened alert
The local government unit (LGU) of nearby Malay in Aklan province is also on heightened alert.
It is coordinating with barangay disaster risk reduction and management councils as well as the Philippine Coast Guard to continuously monitor their coastal areas.
Based on the wind direction, the Malay LGU identified the nearest susceptible areas.
They have prepositioned oil spill booms as a primary defense.
The LGU is also preparing oil containment defense out of indigenous materials for their secondary defense.
“Despite the low probability of the oil spill reaching our shores, we cannot be complacent,” according to the LGU in a statement.
As of yesterday, there was no sighting of oil spill in Boracay Island and Malay.
On the other hand, the Department of Tourism (DOT) Region 6 advises all tourists to avoid water activities in areas affected by the oil spill in Caluya.
All tourists in the island of Boracay, especially in Barangay Yapak, have been advised to take precautionary measures, and to provide updates if there are sightings of or indicator that the oil spill has reached the area.
“We are reminding our LGUs and tourism establishments on the identified areas to provide assistance to affected tourists and ensure their health and safety,” read part of the DOT-6 advisory signed by Regional Director Crisanta Marlene P. Rodriguez./PN
