Oil spill compensation for LGUs set to begin

The Department of Justice (DoJ) said Saturday that the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC) is prepared to compensate local governments that have released funds to mitigate the effects of the Bataan oil spill.

According to Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez, the IOPC is currently investigating the expenses incurred by the LGUs to assist the victims of the maritime disaster.

“The institutional claimants, the LGUs that provided relief and clean-up operations, and the government agencies that used emergency funds to contain the oil spill are all being approached by the IOPCF for compensation,” Vasquez said in Filipino at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.

Deputy Attorney General Raul Vasquez

He reported that 52,000 fishermen from Bataan and Cavite were affected by the oil spill.

The provincial governments of Bataan and Cavite are helping to identify the approximately 21,000 likely claimants for the compensation.

He said they used the 2023 Mindoro oil spill as an example to determine appropriate compensation for those affected.

“And the owner of the Terranova, the insurer and also the IOPC have already indicated that they are prepared to pay,” he added.

He said that based on the template, each affected person can receive an initial payment ranging from P10,000 to P50,000.

Meanwhile, during the first siphoning operation, carried out by the hired salvage company, only 800 liters of oil per hour are extracted from the sunken MT Terranova.

Lt. Cmdr. Michael John Encina, commanding officer of Coast Guard Station Bataan, said if the siphoning operation is going so slowly, even if it is carried out seven days a week at night by Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc., it will take approximately 73 days to remove all 1.4 million gallons of industrial fuel oil that the MT Terranova was carrying before it sank off Lamao Point, Limay, Bataan on July 25.

To speed up the extraction of oil from the ship’s tanks, an oil pumping machine is being shipped from Singapore and is expected to arrive this weekend.

So far, the salvage company has only recovered about 2,500 liters of oil over the past two days.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard’s Marine Science Investigation Force collected another batch of oil samples. Coast Guard personnel monitored Ground Zero and sprayed dispersant on oil escaping from the barriers.

Coast Guard personnel were patrolling the coastline of Barangay Cabcaben in Mariveles, Bataan, where the MTKR Jason Bradley capsized on July 27 due to bad weather. They were trying to map possible traces of the oil spill, while the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) BRP Malamawi was mapping the waters around the sunken vessel.

The PCG took charge of the MV Mirola 1 to conduct further investigations and determine whether any further violations had been committed.

The vessel MV Mirola 1 was carrying two tankers loaded with diesel oil when it ran aground off the coast of Sitio Quiapo in Biaan village, Mariveles, Bataan on July 31.

Encina said the PCG would conduct a further investigation to determine what other violations and administrative cases could be filed.

The PCG has summoned the owner of the MV Mirola 1, as only the contracted salvage company, Morning Star, had contact with the agency.

On Saturday, Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez said the Department of Justice (DoJ) is investigating the possibility of oil smuggling behind the oil spills in Bataan.

Vasquez said at a news forum in Quezon City that they had noticed several warning signs regarding the MT Jason Bradley, MV Mirola 1 and MT Terranova.

According to MT Jason Bradley, the US Department of Justice is pursuing an oil smuggling case.

He said Jason Bradley was among the vessels that fled from the scene of a joint oil smuggling operation by the National Bureau of Investigation’s Organized and Transnational Crime Unit and Customs in December last year.

The MV Mirola 1, on the other hand, should have been seized because it is not registered.

“No data, nothing, it’s not even subject to insurance. Same goes for Jason Bradley. We need to know if those three are connected,” Vasquez said.

According to Richie Jason David, vice mayor of Bataan, the ship that sank on July 25 has still not been completely drained of oil.

He said the Philippine Coast Guard and the Salvor company were still working on oil spill prevention after the Aug. 7 simulation of the transfer.

He said they were kept updated every evening on ongoing activities.

He said he was grateful the oil spill was under control, but that the dangers were still serious.

“We hope that a more efficient suction device will come, but they ran the simulation on August 7 and now it’s already 11 days later,” David said in Filipino.