Only 627 of 4,000 fishers compensated for oil spill

CITY OF CALAPAN—Local fisherman Aldrin Villanueva, 54, of Pola town in Oriental Mindoro province, expressed frustration at the delayed restitution for coastal villages that bore the brunt of the massive oil spill from MT Princess Empress in 2023.

It has been a year since the fuel tanker sank in the waters off neighboring Naujan town, yet Villanueva and other Pola fisherfolk who rely on the sea for their livelihood are still waiting for full and proper compensation.

The town of Pola was considered “ground zero” of the oil spill, which has caused P41.2 billion in environmental and economic losses, according to a Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED) report.

Interviewed by phone on Tuesday, Villanueva, president of the Pola Municipal Fisheries Aquatic Resources Management Council and head of fisherfolk group Lapian ng Mangingisda sa Batuhan, said several affected fishers told him they had not received full payment, including aid from the International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) Funds.

The IOPC Funds, financed by contributions paid by entities that receive certain types of oil by sea transport, “provide compensation for oil pollution damage resulting from spills of persistent oil from tankers,” according to its website.

Of more than 4,000 claimants from Pola, only 627 received initial payment on Feb. 15 and Feb. 16, according to Villanueva, a resident of Batuan village.

FEBRUARY 27, 2024 BACK TO FISHING. Fishers in Barangay Lazareto in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro take their little boat out of the water to shore after another day of fishing on Tuesday, Feb. 27, now that the almost half a year of fishing ban is long gone. They, however, could not forget how the oil spill from M/T Princess Empress gave them sleepless nights after it severely affected their livelihood. Photo by Madonna T. Virola, Inquirer Luzon.

The fisherman said he received only P14,000 of the P54,000 in compensation to which he was entitled.

The full amount was supposed to represent lost income “when fishing for two months during peak season,” before the oil spill that had resulted in a five-month fishing ban.

Princess Empress, departing from Bataan en route to Iloilo with 20 crew members on board, began sinking on Feb. 28 last year, because of an overheated motor tanker and rough sea conditions.

Remove sunken tanker

By March 1, the tanker had been submerged off Naujan town. In 10 days, the slick had spread to Antique and Palawan provinces.

Aside from the yet-to-be-received compensation, the fisherfolk are worried about further ecological damage due to the tanker that remains underwater, threatening the Verde Island Passage (VIP).

The VIP, known as the “center of global shorefish biodiversity,” spans 1.14 million hectares and is home to 60 percent of all known shorefish species, over 300 coral species, and thriving reef formations along the coastlines of Batangas, Romblon, Marinduque, Occidental Mindoro, and Oriental Mindoro provinces.

In this handout photo received from the Philippine Coast Guard and taken on March 2, 2023, a coast guard personnel collects water sample from of an oil spill in the waters off Naujan, Oriental Mindoro. (Photo by Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)

Villanueva said the fishers were concerned that the sunken vessel, over time, might release the remaining oil believed to still be inside it. Holes in the main body or hull of the vessel had been sealed to keep the remainder of the 900,000 liters of industrial fuel from spilling out.

There is a long-standing appeal among Pola officials and residents to have the sunken tanker removed, Villanueva said.

‘Felt for generations’

A commemoration program will be conducted in Pola today, the anniversary of the disaster, to remind the public of the first marine environmental crisis under the Marcos administration.

The CEED report, which was released on Feb. 26, estimated that the oil spill caused P40.1 billion in environmental damage and P1.1 billion in socioeconomic losses.

On Tuesday, the group Protect Verde Island Passage called on San Miguel Corp. (SMC) to compensate all those affected by the oil spill.

The tanker owned by RDC Reield Marine Services had been chartered to carry industrial oil by SMC subsidiary SL Harbor Bulk Terminal Corp.

“The effects of the oil spill will be felt for generations. It will take a long time for the environment to truly recover and for fishermen to get back the income, equipment, and ways of life they lost due to the oil spill,” said Fr. Edwin Gariguez, lead convener of Protect VIP.

Coast Guard’s role

In a legal opinion dated Feb. 15, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) was mandated to facilitate the preparation of claims for compensation for the damage due to the oil spill.

Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez cited Republic Act No. 9483 or the Oil Pollution Compensation Act of 2007, which laid down the role of the PCG in the filing of compensation claims.

“It is understood that if the shipowner’s insurer is willing to pay the claims, no such action in court need be filed, as the claims can be directly filed with the insurer,” Vasquez said.

Last week, the DOJ recommended the filing of falsification charges against the owners and corporate officers of RDC, two crew members of Princess Empress, a member of the Maritime Industry Authority and a private individual.

No charges for the environmental damage have yet been filed.

A year after the oil spill, fishing activities are back to normal in Oriental Mindoro. But the “catch has dwindled to about five to seven kilos from about 20 kilos caught using nets,” said Villanueva.

This meager catch is still to be “distributed among two to three fishers in a small boat,” he said. —WITH REPORTS FROM JANE BAUTISTA AND INQUIRER RESEARCH