NDCC MEDIA UPDATE Situation Update on Oil Spill in Guimaras Island

Releasing Officer

GLENN J RABONZA Administrator, OCD and Executive Officer, NDCC DATE : 22 September 2006 Sources : PCG , OCD Region VI, TF Ligtas Guimaras, DSWD, DOH, PDCC Guimaras

Continuous surveillance, containment and clean-up operations are being undertaken by the members of the Task Force SOS. For Guimaras, the total area cleaned-up is 126.85 kilometers and the volume of debris collected is 1,777.68 metric tons. Relatedly, a total of 102,875 sacks of collected contaminated oily debris were loaded to barges at Cabalagna Wharf hauled from the different affected Barangays. For Iloilo, the total areas cleaned-up are 38 kilometers and the volume of debris collected is 59.29 metric tons. Collected debris are to be picked-up by CV General Services.

From August 28 to September 19, 2006. a total of 921 consultations were done in 15 barangays in the Province of Guimaras. Signs and symptoms of respiratory illness remained to be the main common conditions reported during the consultations, which is 57.09% out of 1,706 cumulative total of signs and symptoms. Of the total consultations, 295 or 32% were involved in the clean-up operations.

A Summary of Effects

1. Affected Areas/Population Affected Population Inside Evac Center Cumulative Province Mun Brgys Total of Signs Families Persons Families Persons and Symptoms Guimaras Nueva 11 2,520 12,600 Valencia Brgy La Paz 8 29 1,706 Brgy 13 65 (a total of 32 Cabalagnan consultations & Brgy Tando 31 155 admissions Sitio Unisan, 19 105 were recorded Brgy in 2 hospitals) Guiwanon Sibunag 8 1,424 7,120 - - - San Lorenzo 6 589 2,945 - - - Buenavista 1 - - - - - Jordan 3 194 970 - - - Sub-Total 29 4,727 23,635 71 354 1,706 Iloilo Ajuy 16 1,738 7,866 - - 3 Concepcion 13 1,405 7,503 - - 76 Sub -Total 29 3,143 15,369 - - 79 TOTAL 7 58 7,870 39,004 71 354 1,785

2.Threatened Areas Province Municipalities Iloilo 16 Negros Occidental 21 Cebu 1 38

3. Affected Ecosystems Ecosystems Guimaras Iloilo Total Nueva Sibunag San Ajuy Concepcion Valencia Lorenzo DENR Marine Reserve 1,143.45 - - - - 1,143.45 (Has) Coastline (Km) 146.00 74.00 - 10.34 4.50 234.84 Coral Reef (Sq Km) 15.80 - - - 15.80 Mangrove (Has) 171.16 257.02 10.80 37.50 2.00 478.48 Sea weeds (Has 42.00 16.00 - - - 58.00 Fishponds (Has) 367.29 - - 439.00 - 806.29

Estimated Cost of damage to 367.29 hectares of fishpond is PhP1,069,185.00

B. Status of Accomplishment of TF Guimaras

1. Oil Spill Response Operations • Surveillance, containment, waste disposal, clean-up operations, relief and recovery efforts by concerned agencies are continuing.

Clean–up Operations as of 20 Sept (Source: Petron)

Guimaras Iloilo Total Area cleaned –up 126.85 kms 38 kms 164.85 kms Volume of Debris 1,777.68 mt 59.29 mt 1,836.97 mt Collected

Waste Disposal

• Petron shipped out around 500 metric tons of oil-covered debris via a Landing Craft Tanker (LCT) that left Cabalagnan Wharf in Nueva Valencia on 20 September 2006 headed for Lugait, Misamis Oriental. • Twenty (20) trucks were utilized in transporting collected debris from the collection areas to Cabalagnan Wharf; 3 barges and 1 tugboat are utilized to ferry collected debris to Lugait, Misamis Oriental for proper management and disposal. • A total of 102,875 sacks of contaminated debris were hauled from the 15 barangays to Cabalagnan Wharf: La Paz (15,680), Cabalagnan (24,004), Tando (11,810), San Antonio (6,017), Lucmayan (12,060), Panobolon (13,071), Alegria (3,540), Igdarapdap (107), Naouay (1,239), San Roque (1,124), Guiwanon (6,862), Canhawan (337), Dolores (825), Nagarao (745) and Nalibas (454)

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Containment

• The Philippine Fishery Development Authority (PFDA)-DA, in collaboration with Aksyon Radyo, PCG, other NGOs and private sectors spearheaded the collection of materials and construction of improvised oil spill booms

Sources Materials Provided for Improvised Spill Booms PDCC Aklan 6 tons Abaca Negros Occidental 18 tons of coconut fiber Aksyon Radyo 24 trucks rice straw and 5 trucks oil spill booms NFA 17,300 empty sacks DA-PFDA 106 sacks feather and 6 truckloads of rice straw stocked at PFDA Molo, DA- RFUs 20 bundles of plastic ropes and strings worth P50,000.00 DA EU 6 Initiated collection of plastic empty bottles to be used as floaters, corn cubs and corn stalks PDCC Guimaras Installed 22,750 meters of spill boom and trapline along the 5 municipalities

MARPOL Equipment and Dispersant

• PCG and Petron equipment on site are: 6 sets oil skimmers, 7 units fast tanks, 1 unit vacuum system, 256 drums oil dispersants, 38 units back pack sprayer; 26 back pack sprayer with motors, 6 units arm sprayers, 10 units high pressure pumps, 102 rakes, 48 shovels and 66 fork shovel.

Assets Deployed

• PCG deployed floating assets and vessels provided by the private responders for coastal clean –up, spraying of chemical dispersant, laying of spill booms, ferrying of hired workers and loading of oily debris.

o 10 vessels - (BRP San Juan, BRP EDSA II, BRP Pampanga, BRP Ilocos Norte, BRP Davao del Norte, BRP Nueva Vizcaya, MCS 3003, MCS 3010, M/V Phoenix and LCM Devine Glory) o 8 tug boats - (MT Reagulus, MT WISE, MT Waray, MT Narwhal, MT Balintawak, MT Vega, MT Polar Star and MT Iloilo) o 3 barges - (LCT Carmen, MT Sharin with barge RAS and MT Tugboy with barge Martam) ferried collected debris to Lugait, Misamis Oriental o 3 aircrafts - (PCG Helo 163, PCG Islander and Islander hired by FMRSI) o 20 trucks -hauled collected debris from collection areas (14 barangays) to Cabalagnan Wharf.

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Manpower Deployed

• A total of 3,484 personnel are on site distributed as follows: Unit/Office Total Personnel Organic Hired PCG WV 184 184 - MEPU 38 38 - FMRSI 1,577 8 1,569 PETRON 1,510 60 1,450 (Guimaras) PETRON 175 175 (Iloilo) Total 3,484 290 3,194

Cash for Work (CFW) • DSWD and Petron continue to implement the CFW program to sustain the victims daily needs and enforced the “no gear no work” and “no medical clearance no work” policy .

• The total number of man days utilized is 32,924 in Guimaras and 384 in Iloilo and the working hours has been reduced from 8 to 4 hours due to health hazards. The remaining 4 hours will be devoted to other CFW projects like preparing land for their agricultural activities.

Relief Operations

• DSWD released to the Provincial Government of Guimaras 220 bags of rice (funded through the Priority Development Assistance Fund of Congressman Edgar Espinosa); 15 cases sardines; and 500 packs of used clothing and distributed to fisherfolks 1,000 packs of relief goods last week and another 1,000 for this week

• Assistance extended is PhP 90,747,982.40 broken down as follows : Agency Kind of Assistance Amount of Assistance NDCC Calamity Fund Negros, Occ, loilo, Guimaras P 40,000,000.00 UP 10,000,000.00 PCG 2,000,000.00 Rice 935,000.00 DSWD Relief Goods (4,920 family packs, 254 sacks 1,470,000.00 rice and 15 cases sardines DOH Medicines 1,154,772.00 DA-BFAR Palay & vegetable seeds, animals and 1,580,000.00 materials for spill booms DENR Oil dispersants 500,000.00 LGUs Relief goods & spill booms 305,031.00 NGOs Relief goods & materials for spill booms 2,309,730.40 Petron Cash for work, - P8,500,000.00 30,493,449.00 Medical mission - 500,000.00 Dispersant supplies, - 15,000,000.00 Personal rotective gears - 4,000,000.00

4 5,552 relief packs - 1,899,285.00 Cash (Petron employees) - 494,164.00

Assistance Donated by NGOs Name of Donors Assistance Provided PLDT Iloilo bottled water Mirant grocery items Zuelleg water container Chevron Philippines (Iloilo) rubber boots Netrile gloves, mask (blue eagle), cartridge (blue eagle) Total Philippines dispersants, chemical gloves, rubber boots Splash Foundation sacks of rice , bottled water United Laboratories Inc medicines Cleanway Technology 10 drums of liquid soap Corporation Guard-All Electronic Security Cash (P20,000.00) Systems Inc. Petron Dealers Association Cash (P10,000.00) Cebu Chapter Servicio Filipino Inc Cash (P10,000.00) Lockheed Detective and Cash (P5,000.00) watchman Agency Petron Employees (35 % of the Cash (P494,164.00) employees) Aksyon Radyo 2 trucks relief goods Kapuso Foundation (GMA) assorted relief goods worth P390,350.00 ABS-CBN Foundation assorted relief goods assorted relief goods Taus Puso assorted relief goods

International Assistance Agency Assistance Provided FAO Recruited specialists to assess needs and option for alternative livelihood for affected fisherfolks in Guimaras Australia Provided P7.3 million (A$193,000) in emergency humanitarian relief, mainly for children and families displaced by the oil spill in Guimaras German Assisted BFAR in the assessment of coral reefs, sea Development Service grass and fish visual survey. Volunteers IMO Provided technical assistance to the government on how to access compensatory claims against the International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) IOPC and P&I Club Will provide reparation /compensation on oil pollution claims UNEP-OCHA Triggered the International Charter on Space and Major UNOSAT Disasters allowing for the collection and dissemination of satellite images of the disaster area. UNICEF Provided emergency health kits, drugs, water purifying tablets, 10 pieces of tarpaulins and banners warning

5 people not to use or drink unsafe water from identified areas. planning to relocate schools in the most affected areas and provide food assistance if needed Provided financial assistance on the construction of comfort rooms and sanitation facilities in Sitio Unisan, Brgy Tando, Nueva Valencia UNDP On active discussion is the US$ 100,000 from the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery 9BCPR)-UNDP New York for damage assessment and Cash/Food for Work and provided technical assistance thru the DENR to help consolidate the on-going assessment leading to damage claim by the community and rehabilitation of the affected ecosystems in Guimaras. UNDP and the United Nations Resident Coordinator (UNRC) are collaborating with NDCC to finalize proposal for emergency cash grants from UNOCHA. Japan Coast Guard, U.S. Coast Guard, Provided technical advice on oil spill containment, clean NOAA, France and up and retrieval of sunken vessel Australian Gov’t Germany Pledge the amount of EURO 25,000 (PhP1.6 Million) for immediate disaster relief in the area most severely affected by the oil spill

Health Assessment

DOH • Conducts weekly health assessment of coastal cleaners in collaboration with medical teams of Petron and LGUs, A total of 1,972 workers/residents undertook medical check-up from 8 barangays in Nueva Valencia • From August 28 to Sept 19, 2006, a total of 921 consultations were made in 15 barangays in Guimaras. • Respiratory illness remains to be the main symptoms, representing 57.09 % out of 1,706 cumulative total of signs and symptoms. • Of the total consultations, 295 patients or 32% were involved in clean-up operations • Two (2) patients were confined at Guimaras Provincial Hospital (2 year old female and 7 yrs old male) both admitted for bronchopneumonia vs chemical pneumonitis. • Eight consultations were reported in the same hospital due to hypersensitivity reaction, broncho pneumonia and asthma for the past week. • Conducted meeting with Governor, mayors and Brgy Captains of Guimaras and came up with an agreement : strict implementation of the memo entitled “Act Pertaining to Safety of Oil Spill Cleaners in Guimaras” which provides the issuance of medical clearance to those participating in the clean-up operations and recommend force evacuation in identified high risks barangays.

PDCC Guimaras /MDCC Nueva Valencia • Constructed comfort rooms and sanitation facilities in Sitio Unisan, Brgy Tando, Nueva Valencia in coordination with UNICEF and PA 301 st Brigade

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PETRON • Petron Foundation, GMA and ABS-CBN conducted a joint medical mission on September 9, 2006 in the following barangays of Nueva Valencia with 1,119 patients treated

Barangays No of Patients Treated No of Workers Unfit to Work Cabalagnan 312 18 Lucmayan 142 3 Tando 156 4 La Paz 392 workers 29 117 residents Total 1,119 54

EMB-DENR • The findings was safe for H2S, in a simultaneous monitoring by DENR and DOH in Sitio Algag, San Isidro, Sibunag on September 7, 2006.

2. Early Recovery /Alternative Livelihood

BFAR –DA • Conducted consultative meeting with representatives from MAOs, ATs and Program Coordinators from the five (5) affected municipalities in Guimaras to discuss alternative livelihood projects that will be made available to affected families with respect to beneficiaries and schemes/mechanisms for the assistance • A consultative meeting was also conducted with UNDP on Sept 15, 2006 to discuss on technical assistance and early recovery of Guimaras Province. • Facilitated the delivery of 10 units of Livelihood Assistance Program Multi-Purpose boats thru PN BRP for the Livelihood Assistance Project to fisherfolks in Guimaras. - 10 units Bantay Dagat Program Multi –Purpose boats - 50 pcs Life Jacket (5pcs/boat ) - 10 pcs Life Ring (1 pc /boat) - 20 pcs paddle (2 pcs/ boat) - 10 pcs plastic container (1 pc/boat ) • A one day training on fishing boat operation and management is being conducted by BFAR-Marine Fisheries Development Center staff today, 20 December 2006 prior to the turn –over to the recipients ; • Allocated the amount of PhP1.53 M to provide farm inputs for livelihood assistance for affected families Farm Inputs Beneficiaries Amount Allocated Palay Certified Seeds 100 farmers P880,000.00 Animals (piglets & native 204 families 500,000.00 chicken) Vegetable seeds 17 barangays 1 50,000.00 Total P1,530,000.00

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DSWD • Will provide long term alternative livelihood support in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) until the victims of Guimaras have fully recovered from the effects of oil spill; • Will implement its Self-Employment Assistance–Kaunlaran (SEA-K) program “Tindahan Natin” and productivity centers project; • TESDA and PBSP are assessing appropriate cottage industry projects and other livelihood alternatives like hog-raising and chicken farm yard projects

3. Retrieval/Recovery Operations of Bunker Oil and Sunken Vessel

• PCG conducted consultation meeting with Norwegian experts for possible employment of Remote Off- Loading System (ROLS) to siphon remaining IFO of M/T Solar I.

4 Reparation /Compensation Due to Economic Loss • Petron’s insurer had begun processing the compensation claims on Guimaras on 7 September 2006. A series of claims workshops on oil pollution claims and compensation processing have been conducted by the representatives from International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) and Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Club in consideration with LGUs concerned.

IOPC Coverage • The P&I Club and its partner IOPC have confirmed their obligation of providing compensation to the victims. They have tasked Steven Adjusters to be the focal point for receiving all pollution damage claims arising from the incident • A criteria was established by IOPC for claims to be admissible for compensation

- Any expense and loss or damage must actually have been incurred ; - Any expense must relate to measures that are considered reasonable and justifiable ; - Any expense and loss or damage caused by contamination resulting from the spill ; - There must be a reasonable close link between the cost or expense covered by the claim and the contamination caused by the spill ; - A person has suffered economic loss ; and - A claimant has to fully document the claim.

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