Ecodemocracy in Post-Disaster Communities:

The Case of Social Movements during the post-MT Solar 1 Oil Spill in Guimaras Island

Province

Marie Athena C. Ybañez

Submitted to: Dr. Josefina Tayag Department of Social Sciences College of Arts and Sciences University of the Philippines Manila

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

BACHELOR OF ARTS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE

May 2017

1 I. Abstract

Described as the worst environmental accident in the country, the 2006 M/T Solar 1 Oil Spill, was one that pierced the socioeconomic status of the island province of Guimaras. Not only that, the damage has reached the provinces of Iloilo, Guimaras, and Negros Occidental, all located in the

Western Visayas Region of the country. This seminar paper, through qualitative methods, sheds light on the ecodemocratic process that took part during the rehabilitation stages of the oil spill, giving emphasis on the alternative, yet, crucial role of social movement organizations in airing the demands of the worst hit barangays to the local and national government officials.

2 II. Acknowledgments

In the fulfillment of this study, my heart pours out its gratitude to the following people:

To Dr. Josefina Tayag, my research advisers, thank you, Ma’am, for knowing our studies despite the short amount of time you have spent with us. Thank you for returning to the

Political Science Program to advise our batch. Thank you for all the guidance that you have given me despite having to change the focus of the study almost halfway through the semester. I thank you also for being understanding of the circumstances of my research. I hope I did justice to all the advice that you gave me this semester.

To Prof. Clarinda Berja, my PS 199.1 professor, thank you, Ma’am, for influencing me to pursue disaster studies, and for teaching me the wisdom of human rights research. This has been one of the greatest teachings in my undergraduate life. I will forever take it with me as I take on the task of serving the people after graduation.

To my batchmates, thank you for welcoming me into the program. I could not imagine being with any other batch. It has been one good ride with all of you.

To my parents, thank you, for the time, energy, and resources that you have entrusted to me as I did this research. I am inspired by your dedication public service and I shall therefore aim a life towards it also. Thank you for letting me shift into political science, a course I genuinely learned to love. Thank you for your love. I will be forever indebted.

Lastly, I would thank God, for sustaining me. Thank you for the grace to serve through research.

In service of the Filipino people – especially the lost, the last, and the least, I will remain.

3 III. Table of Contents

Abstract 2

Acknowledgements 3

INTRODUCTION 6

Statement of the Problem 7

Tentative Answer 7

Objectives of the Study 7

Review of Related Literature 8

Theoretical Framework 18

Conceptual Framework 20

Definition of Terms 21

METHODOLOGY 24

Data Matrix 24

Research Design 26

Ethical Considerations 27

Scope and Limitation 28

Significance 29

RESULTS 30

Politics of rehabilitation and ecodemocracy in post-disaster Guimaras 30

Social movements and organization in post-disaster Guimaras 35

CONCLUSION 38

Summary 39

Conclusion 40

4 Recommendations 42

Bibliography 43

Appendices 45

Appendix A. Informed Consent Form Sample 45

Appendix B. Attachment to Informed Consent Form (English) 49

Appendix C. Attachment to Informed Consent Form (Hiligaynon) 50

5 IV. INTRODUCTION

Described as the worst environmental accident in the country, the 2006 M/T Solar 1 Oil Spill, was one that pierced the socioeconomic status of the island province of Guimaras. Not only that, the damage has reached the provinces of Iloilo, Guimaras, and Negros Occidental, all located in the Western Visayas

Region of the country.

The M/T Solar 1 Oil Spill was an eighteen-year old motor tanker that sank in the southern part of

Guimaras Island, Western Visayas on August 11, 2006. It carried a total of 2.1 million liters of bunker oil, which was attributably owned by the Philippine National Oil Corporation (PNOC) in partnership with Petron, one of the gasoline giants in the country (Olavario 2009). The incident has also been called the Guimaras Oil Spill, and has been deemed as the ‘worst environmental accident in the country’. The

President of the Republic of the Philippines, at that time, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo even declared a state of national calamity in order to facilitate the administrative remedies needed to address the disaster caused at eleven days after the start of the spill. The capsizing of the M/T Solar 1, sinking

639m deep, 24.6 km south of Lucasan point in Guimaras Island was such an event that managed to affect the marine life and the stretch of shores within weeks. According to reports, the motor tanker was chartered by the PNOC to deliver the 2.1 million litres of fuel oil for industrial purposes from Lamao,

Bataan to Zamboanga City. The impacts of the oil spill that happened in August 2006 have been studied in its various aspects, all consistently concluding that the disaster has been nothing short of a widespread devastation – to the human population and its ecological habitat (Balena 2014).

The number of studies done during the aftermath of the oil spill, particularly by groups focusing on disaster’s implications on natural resources and the livelihood of the people dependent on those natural resources reflect the veracity of the problem at hand. A decade after the incident, the case remains to be unsettled regarding the accountability of the private companies to all parties affected, the extent of

6 damage to the socioeconomic status of the province, and the checks on the policies and programs that were implemented post-disaster times.

Statement of the Problem

How did social movements and organizations in Guimaras Island affect the overall rehabilitation of communities affected by the MT Solar 1 Oil Spill?

Tentative Answer

Social movements, as the concrete manifestation of the existence of an ecodemocratic process in the society, are effective in affecting decision-making in a post-disaster community when it satisfies two conditions: (1) when the bystander public and the community that they are in contact with in their general operations sees them as productive members, and (2) when the local government recognizes their demands and the work that they do not only outside the scope of government processes, but also that which overlaps the tasks of the government.

Objectives of the Study

Generally, this study aims to assess the extent to which people see social movements as placing external pressures on institutions involved in man made disasters; and that they can make demands for their environmental rights and government accountability for such.

Specifically, the study aims to provide light on social movements in post-disaster communities through:

(1) Discussing a backgrounder on man made disasters, what their effects are, how people

cope with them and what the government does or does not do in their behalf

7 (2) Giving a socioeconomic and political situationer on Guimaras, before the oil spill and ten

years after it occurred

(3) Assessing the results of different organizations and mobilizations in Guimaras in in

demanding accountability for the socioeconomic effects of the MT Solar 1 Oil Spill

(4) Determining if national movements had played a significant role in the demanding

accountability for the socioeconomic effects of the oil spill and the betterment of the lives

of the community in general

(5) Assessing and determining if there is a need to reconcile the the government’s, private

companies’ and peoples’ contention on the accountability on the disaster or the

possibility of a national man-made disaster mechanism

(6) Giving recommendations for the development of an effective post-disaster rehabilitation

framework specifically in the case of man-made disasters such as oil spills

Review of Related Literature

Summary of Social Movement Theories

The study of social movements has been prevalent more on the field of sociology than it was in political science. However, due to its political nature, it was then developed in the field, especially during the times when mass demonstrations were prominent in the West.

In 1951, Herbert Blumer studied social movements and came up with a theory where social movements are said to arise during times of deprivation, when people who want to change the existing order of life come together to achieve it. It stressed that people with the same agitations or has been agitated for similar reasons tend to join a social movement. Their stay in the movement lets them interact with other people who also share the same frustrations, therefore

8 building esprit de corps either through informal fellowships or through identification of an in- group and out-group. These fellowships thus then create the group or the movement’s ideology that they will use in establishing a new order of life. Strategies and tactics are derived from the ideology they have agreed on and the new order of life they want to achieve. But in this

Collective Behaviorist Approach, not all movements move toward a new order, some may only seek to express their values and commitments, and such will bring people together; like that of expressive movements of fashion and religion.

Blumer’s theory was further improved by Tarrow’s (2011) study on contentious politics.

Tarrow featured how several activists all calling for a halt in nuclear power have blocked Gaza using the symbolic flotilla.

The approach becomes problematic when one takes into account that deprivation has never left any society. Likewise, in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950-1960s, one could simply state that the Blacks have been deprived of basic rights even before the 1950s.

Deprivation alone cannot establish a movement that large, especially when there were already various lawsuits and petitions defending the Blacks even in the pre-1950s.

Pamela Oliver (1989) brought into the table a study of crowds that may fill in the missing pieces of the previous theory. She stressed that social movements should not be studied in terms of organization because it does not rely on structure. Instead, actions affect other actions, which cannot be perceived in the normal lines of organization.

One of the studies done under this approach was tracing the lines of communication between those who repeatedly joined mass demonstrations, which showed that communication often traversed through the major transportation routs. In the advent of the telephone, however, it was seen that personal networks have been important in mobilizing people. Aside from mass

9 media, people now had the ability to check on the news from media through personal networks who have their own accounts.

The composition of people in riots has also been studied. It was said that not all people who participated in riots were socially deprived, or even aware of what the riot was all about.

Instead, actions of other people, such as receiving messages on when and where the riots will be held led them to mobilize people. This has also led Oliver to come up with a general framework on how actions affect other actions through creating an occasion, that people will participate in, through various initiations of other people, to join a certain event that may or may not be organized by a particular organization, and leading to the changes in beliefs of those who participated, changes in their social organization (as they also continue on creating occasions to recruit), changes in the knowledge they achieve from being inside the organization, and the changes that they may experience in their self-perception, like seeing the meaning of life through achieving an end goal, and so on.

Like Blumer’s theory, deprivation may also be the central cause of mobilizing crowads, but they differ in terms of method. As said, Oliver does not see the social movement as an organization but as crowds wherein, again, actions affect other actions. Moreover, development in this area has been dominated by Oliver was said to lack the credibility that should have been given by her academic peers.

While both of these theories have centered on deprivation still, seeing social movements as caused by psychosocial motives, it still does not answer the question on why, for example, the

Civil Rights Movement flourish in the 1950s-1960s timespan when it was already accepted that

Blacks were socially deprived even before that. The Resource Mobilization Approach tries to fill in that gap on premise outside deprivation.

10 McCarthy and Zald (1977) viewed social movements like an economist; that such social movements will succeed if it has the resources to do so. Therefore, in order to gain resources, it must project an end goal that is of preference to the society. The task of a social movement activist is to use the resources of its believers (or convert the adherents into resource-providing constituents, and to convert non-adherents or the bystander public into adherents in order to convert them eventually into constituents). Put simply, the goal is to garner resources and to maintain them in the course of a social movement.

When the Blacks started to use their social networks- churches, universities, and even personal ties, they were able to create a huge pool of resources; there was now one large movement and not separately organizing insignificant mobilizations. There were a number of influential personalities who were capable of recruiting more conscience constituents; and social movement organizations were being identified as being part of a larger social movement or social movement industry. The resources they had were enough to mobilize support of even those who were not black. Resources allowed them to choose between the appropriate methods in mobilizing that would contribute to more sit-ins, swim-ins, and the like; more events that contributed to the success of their movement.

Kerbo (1982) adds that in the light of the Resource Mobilization Approach, are specific movements that are identified with what type of resources if mobilized and for what type of beneficiary it mobilizes for. Movements of crisis was one that focus on a lack of a collective good or right that its potential beneficiaries were also being mobilized to attain the goal, like in peasant or agrarian revolutions. On the other hand, those who are not socially deprived, but are mobilizing support for a collective good like in environmental or anti-nuclear movements experience movements of affluence.

11 What is lacking in this theory is that it does not take into account mobilizations, which may have been rich in resources but were repressed by government machinery, such as in military, authoritarian or totalitarian regimes. Political Opportunity now tries to fill another gap.

Meyer and Minkoff (2004) argued that exogenous factors, ones outside the control of actors within the social movement, enhance or inhibit chances for mobilizations for a particular claim to be preferred over another, how movements affect government policy, and how influence or power is exercised. Also, it is the opportunity or the chances of intervening or influencing mainstream politics that contribute to the success of a social movement.

McAdam (1996) devised the dimensions in which opportunity can be enhanced or inhibited, such as how the more open or federalized systems have implied greater access by social movements; or how centralized systems inhibit access of activists in decision-making. In addition, the hold of a ruling political elite may inhibit activism’s effects or the state may choose to repress the social movement. The success of a social movement now lies on the presence or absence of the opportunity to intervene.

However, the problem with this approach is that it is often too subjective. Some may not see the opportunity as an opportunity and some may misinterpret what is not an actual opportunity. Also, movement activists have been seen to overestimate opportunities, which sometimes causes failures through the actions they took up on those perceived opportunities.

Overall, the four approaches have somehow complemented each other instead of contradicting them. All of them have been helpful in understanding social movements from the 1960s Civil Rights

Movement to the 2011 Gaza flotilla incident. What was missing in some areas were filled in by the other approaches. The filed may be deemed understudied for social movements have not been thoroughly studied in a political science context.

12 Social aspects studied in the Guimaras Oil Spill

With the widespread devastation of the human population and their ecological habitat, which in turn is primarily the source of livelihood of the province, the Guimaras Oil Spill has definitely brought about socioeconomic problems, specifically among the fisherfolk communities that were present during the incident. While response efforts were numerous due to the active private and public institutions then, rehabilitation, the task to facilitate the reparation of the non-human habitat or the ecosystem itself, was placed in the hands of committees set by the local and national governments. The food security of the affected communities would then be placed in the hands of these committees formed, since response efforts only address to the immediate nourishment needs of the people.

Currently, the provincial government, with the aid of various corporations and NGOs, mostly leads programs aimed at the long-term rehabilitation of the community in Guimaras. The locality has also been the subject of the national government’s 4Ps program, the schemes, however, are not placed in the hands of the local government officials.

There is a need to check on the island’s rehabilitation efforts, and how the political economy of rehabilitation is being shaped after the 2006 oil spill. The island province’s main source of livelihood has been agriculture, yet, with the state of their fishing communities have been threatened, changes in their livelihood choices and mechanics have taken place. This may be described as resilience to disastrous times, yet resilience in communities must be checked with the government’s role in providing rehabilitation efforts in the area.

In Siason and Suyo (2014) described resilience as the “capability of a system to absorb a certain disruption without being overcome by it; to self organize, learn and experiment with new options as a response to the disturbance.” The study, which questioned the respondents on the levels of their ability

13 to live with uncertainty, diversity to reorganize and renew, capacity to combine different sets of knowledge, and creating opportunities for self-organization, showed that despite the loss of income, lack of funds and opportunities, the fisherfolk communities have managed to mobilize internal support with the aid of fisheries-related organizations. Resilience also manifested through the public attention given to the calamity within one and a half years after the spill.

Aside from the overall resilience of the people, the same resilience has been brought down to the level of adjusting gendered dimensions pre-existing in the community. In Asong et al (2014), they studied the gender dimensions of the disaster and found out that men were directly affected, being mostly involved as off-shore fishers, boat operators, boat workers. Most women who were affected were seen to be involved as fishpen workers, fish vendors, fish processors, dried fish dealers, seaweeds growers, gleaners, and salt makers. Notably, the women were more inclined to recourse to other sources of survival (rather than mere livelihood) after the disaster such as into paid farm and domestic labor, food vending and mat weaving, while men, during their free time resorted to charcoal-making. Women and children were also seen to have engaged in fishing and other areas to minimize costs of fishing labor. Men also started to engage in shell gathering, which was previously dominated by women.

Differences in the overall health situation of men and women were also examined. Generally, it was seen that there was some degree of gender awareness that developed in the course of creating rehabilitation plans in the provincial level, overall planning was still dominated by the larger organizations such as the regional teams created. That although the disaster had developed a new gender scheme in the area, the projects’ tasks and roles only reinforced the existing gender stereotypes and did not capitalize on the changes in the gender roles of the community. This idea has been consistent with that of Farini and Wadood’s (2001) wherein the sex of the head of household was said to be a non- statistically significant factor in providing food security in the household, guaranteeing at 10% level of

14 significance. However, the same study also noted that the very low number of households with female heads can cause this statistic and that most households with female heads are already in vulnerable situations because they were mostly abandoned and widowed, thus, facing various economic difficulties.

Thus, there is also a need for government-led CDD programs to be in place in the island province for the economy to keep up with the growing changes in the community caused by the incident. In Lizada et al (2014) studied the various forms of alternative livelihood interventions, mostly agricultural and agricultural based, also with the aid of dole out cash for livelihood. A field survey of coordinators and beneficiaries showed that the rush to provide alternative sources of income for affected families failed to account for important considerations such as implementing sustainable livelihood projects such as the role and participation of stakeholders in project implementation, the skills in project management, leadership, and governance. It also showed a lack of framework to optimize the use of assistance and grants through multi-sectoral disaster management teams composed of experts in environmental concerns and psychosocial aspects and community development managers who will be able to oversee the projects to ensure long-term benefits and sustainability of their new livelihood.

During the response stage of the oil spill, various local and international corporate entities were able to help in the provision of basic services. In Parcon (2014) studied the corporate social responsibility

(CSR) project teams that were present in the aftermath of the disaster and provided aid. The findings of the study highlighted the role and value placed on bayanihan as a values system present in CSR in the country. Also, it showed that in times of disaster, the non-instrumental motives of the actions of the organizations that are based on the decisions of their stakeholders are present and that they are aware of a normative expectation of the community for them to provide aid. The study also showed that there is a gap between the government and the organizations providing CSR aid in which some organizations did not have warm networks in the community but are willing to provide aid. However, it needs to be

15 checked whether or not the CSR projects were sustainable- especially among mangrove-planting projects and other projects aimed at the redevelopment of the environmental conditions, wherein there must be corporate social accountability (CSA) to be paired with the CSR efforts.

In Hall (2014) studied the intra-governmental and non-governmental coordination during the response and rehabilitation efforts and found out that there are various overlapping and competing points in the critical areas of disaster-specific frameworks of various agencies. The task force created specific to the disaster, the Regional Task Force Solar I Oil Spill (RTFSOS) showed that it marginalized some critical agencies such as the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), local authorities, and NGOs while endowing

Petron (the owner of the oil that was in MT Solar I) a legitimate basis for its involvement in response operations. The study highlighted the absence of a widely accepted protocol for amending the existing environmental and human health impact practices which has brought about tension between line government agencies and academic/research communities.

Rukandema and Gürkan’s study (2004), which based its security standards to the FAO’s have placed the concept of food security in disaster studies asserting that the shortfall in the existence of disasters, which are serious disruptions of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic, or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected population to cope on its own (UNISDR 2002 in Rukandema and Gurkan 2004), had managed to classify various countries to the types of food emergencies they are experiencing and to whether or not these are caused by natural or man-made factors. The study has used the term “food emergency” as an operationalized version of food insecurity in terms of the relative sense of urgency it creates in the local and international discourse. The study has also noted that there has been a consistent increase in incidence of food emergencies from 1990-2001 which may be due to increasing incidences of civil wars, drought, harsh winters, refugee crises in Africa; coffee price increase in Latin America; and various economic

16 constraints in Asian countries. In classifying whether or not the food emergencies exist due to manmade or natural disasters, the study has failed to account of disasters such as oil-spills that are man-made by source of destruction, but effects spread out to natural resources, eventually causing permanent damage to them. With that in mind, it introduces a gap in disaster studies as well as in food security studies.

When placed in context of an archipelagic country such as the Philippines, whose water resources are constantly in threat by large oil companies transportation efforts, food security of fisherfolk communities and even fishing-dependent industries may also be placed in situations of not only food emergencies, but also food insecurity as a whole.

Since the World Bank Group report highlighted the importance of locally headed task forces in delivery of services, there is a need to further develop the RTFSOS into a more provincial scale that would cater to the specific problems of poverty such as the food security of the community. While the

RTFSOS has been able to capture the large-scale problems and were able to formulate solutions to such, the changing dynamics within the community must suggest a CDD program that could adopt to it. There is a need to choose more effective schemes based on the capabilities of the community and the provincial government’s institutional capacity. Ultimately, social protection of the people of Guimaras, especially their food security, can be transitioned to a government led system that is community driven.

The World Bank Group has suggested to Myanmar that a gradual transition from a DP-led social protection program can be gradually changed into a sustainable government-led one, wherein officials can do a learning-by-doing approach, adjusting to the various roles played by government and non- government actors and enhancing those relationships. The report also highlighted that current political socialization issues of the community with the government must be first resolved through providing models for interaction, probably for checks and balances of various programs also.

17 In Yender et al (2008), the researchers concluded that the Guimaras Oil Spill was the worst oil spill case in recent history and that it directly affected fisheries and subsistence villages along the impacted coastline. The study also showed that immediate efforts on response focused on the clean-up of the immediately damaged site, as headed by the PCG and the owner of the vessel, while the village residents were hired to clean up the oiled shorelines manually. Therefore, a long-term approach for development of the province, and not just the rehabilitation, has not been, institutionally, in place. There is a need to transcend the internationally acclaimed definitions created by international organizations, and bring down the discourse on disaster rehabilitation studies into the level that will most benefit those who became victims of man-made or natural disasters. The short-term and medium-term development plans made by the previous national governments are to be assessed on a human rights based framework, in such a way that persons shall be held accountable for the actions and inactions of the post-oil spill Guimaras situation.

Theoretical Framework

Lundberg (1992) first described ecodemocracy, or ecocentric democracy, is a situation in which the government, assumed therein as having the central role of public service and governance, accomodates different sectors of society in making decisions concerning the handling natural resources. He also defined it as the “restructuring of the society for maximum conservation and equal rights for all species”, accounting for not only natural resources that are consumed by humans and animals, but also human resources that manages them.

Social movements, on the other hand, have been the subject of sociological studies since the 1960s. In its classic definition, Blumer (1951) defines social movements in itself as collective enterprises that attempt to establish a ‘new order of life’. Further studies suggested that social

18 movements, operationalized in terms of organizations, arise from the general condition of unrest and derive motive power on one hand from dissatisfaction with the current form of life (Tarrow

2011), in this case, the post-disaster community of Guimaras Island Province, wherein poverty has been at its highest during the recent post-disaster years. Tarrow (2011) asserts that social movement organizations also arise from the collective wishes and hopes for a new scheme or system of living.

McCarthy and Zald (1977) have earlier thought of social movement organizations to have been brought by the need for resources, therefore, an immediate post-disaster community like

Guimaras Island Province would have been a ground for the establishment of social movements.

They have also noted that discontent from the structural conditions such as poverty and deprivation can also lead to the formation of an alternative organizational scheme to that of, possibly, the government’s. Furthermore, Stanley (2010) also noted that in line with the ecodemocratic tradition, inter-organization accountability especially in man-made disasters is a manifestation of the adherence to the democratic process in the community.

19 Conceptual Framework

Independent Intervening Variable: Oil spill Factor: Local caused by private government officials Outcome: The local company in initiate policies and government fails to partnership with a programs account for every GOCC brings immediately after service delivered to devastation to the incident, with the communities as natural marine the help of other they aim to resources in government centralize all aid and Guimaras wherein agencies to form rehabilitation efforts socioeconomic task force, also in the provincial conditions of the involving NGOs, level people are and private dependent upon individuals

(1) ACTUAL SCENARIO

Intervening Factor: Local government officials initiate Independent policies and Variable: Oil spill programs caused by private Outcome: Overall immediately after the company in Rehabilitation of incident, with the partnership with a Guimaras Island consultation of GOCC brings Province in terms of different badly-hit devastation to the provision of sectors of the natural marine longterm effective community and uses resources in alternative livelihood information from Guimaras wherein and the overall them to effectively socioeconomic rehabilitation of create programs with conditions of the natural resources the help of existing people are dependent NGOs, SMOs, and upon private companies present during the response period

(2) IDEAL SCENARIO

20 Definition of Terms

i. Social Movement Actors

1. Organizers/cadre

 Main organizers of the social movement (McCarthy and Zald 1977)

 Individuals who are involved in the decision-making processes of the organization

(Kerbo 1983)

2. Bystander public

 Non-adherents of the social movements (Kerbo 1983) who may or may not benefit from

the cause being forwarded by the social movement

 The resource mobilization tasks of the social movement cadres are often centered on

turning non-adherents into adherents (Turner 1970)

ii. Ecodemocracy

 “Ecodemocracy” (ecocentric democracy) was defined as the “restructuring of our society

for maximum conservation and equal rights for all species,” wherein government

accommodates the different sectors of society in making decisions concerning natural

resources (Lundberg 1992).

iii. Social Movements Organizations

 Collective enterprises that attempt to establish a new order of life (Blumer 1951)

 Inception in a condition of unrest and derive motive power on one hand from

dissatisfaction with the current form of life, and on the other hand, from wishes and

hopes for a new scheme or system of living (Tarrow 2011)

iv. Local Social Movement Organizations

21  Can be a classified as a specific social movement (Tarrow 2011), as compared to that of a

general social movement, wherein it becomes a crystallization of much of the motivation

of dissatisfaction, hope, and desire awakened by the larger social movement and the

focusing of this motivation on a specific objective.

 Other characteristics (Tarrow 2011):

o Has a well-defined objective or goal which it seeks to reach

o It develops an organization and structure, making it essentially a society

o Develops a recognized and accepted leadership and a definite membership

characterized by we-consciousness

v. Post-Disaster Community Efforts

 Condition that is needed to effectively address post-disaster communities, comes in the

form of an inclusive approach (International Federation of the Red Cross and Red

Crescent Societies 2012)

 Sector-specific technical guidance is available to humanitarian response actors – however

they are rarely brought together as one tool reflecting the commonalities and overlap

between public building reconstruction (including health facilities, schools, governmental

and social institutions, the repair of water, sanitation, etc) (International Federation of the

Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 2012)

vi. Rehabilitation

 Closely related to environmental restoration with socioeconomic restoration (Society for

Ecological Restoration 2016).

 Environmental restoration is a term common in the citizens’ environmental movement.

Environmental restoration is closely allied with (or perhaps sometimes used

22 interchangeably with) ecological restoration or environmental remediation (Society for

Ecological Restoration 2016).

23 V. METHODOLOGY

Data Matrix

Data Needed Source Techniques Ethical Aspects

General Objective assess the extent to which Provincial KII, in-depth Informed consent people see social officials, Barangay interviews movements or placing officials, BAYAN external pressures on organizers, UP institutions involved in Visayas Social man-made disasters to Science Professor/ demand for social Researcher environmental rights and accountability

Specific Objectives to give a situationer on Local government KII, in-depth Informed consent the current Guimaras reports, interviews community’s social and Government economic life ten years Agency reports, Content analysis of Request for data from after the massive oil spill NGO/ PO/ SMO secondary materials: offices

reports, interviews themes and subthemes Acknowledgment of

with provincial all secondary sources

24 planning officers,

local barangay

officials and

organizers

to assess the results of Local barangay KII, in-depth Informed consent different organizations officials and PO interviews and mobilizations in organizers who

Guimaras in in have served during demanding the last ten years accountability for the socioeconomic effects of the MT Solar 1 Oil Spill to determine if national Local barangay KII, in-depth Informed consent movements had played a officials and PO interviews significant role in the organizers who demanding have served during accountability for the the last ten years socioeconomic effects of the oil spill and the betterment of the lives of the community in general

25 to give recommendations Local government KII, in-depth Informed consent for the development of an reports, NGO/ PO interviews effective post-disaster reports, interviews rehabilitation framework with provincial Content analysis of Request for data from specifically in the case of planning officers, secondary materials: offices man-made disasters such local barangay themes and subthemes Acknowledgment of as oil spills officials and all secondary sources

organizers

Research Design

The study required fieldwork, and main method of research was in-depth interviews of at least three people from the communities affected, key informant interviews of provincial planning officer (at least two), local barangay officials (at least two), a member of the academe, specifically from University of the Philippines Visayas Oil Spill Response Program (UPV

OSRP) and three social movement organizers – both locally-organized and nationally-affiliated.

In-depth interviews to be conducted in three barangays in Nueva Valencia, Guimaras were part of the proposal. Minimums of five members of the barangay who were never affiliated with the government or the social movement organizations were to be interviewed until saturation point is reached. Letters explaining the nature of the study and the respective informed consent forms were sent prior to the researcher’s scheduled visit to the barangays. However, due to circumstances that have arisen during the day of the intended interviews, some of the respondents did not want to sign informed consent forms, noting that their names might be exposed, and were wary of the interviews being tape-recorded.

26 Nonetheless, the members of the community will then be seen as local public officials, local movement organizers, and bystander public (in this case, without the interviews of the people from the barangays, the bystander public was limited to an assumed independent media and academic community).

The research method was purely qualitative in design, attempting to establish the behavior of a certain group of people, a post-disaster community, through interviews.

The researcher employed the use of the English language in conducting interviews such as in preparing sample questions for the interviews, yet Hiligaynon translations were be prepared beforehand. The researcher herself administered the interviews. When the interviewee would prefer the dialect, the interview was done using the tongue he or she is most comfortable with.

Ethical Concerns

Given the qualitative nature of the study, interviews and key informant interviews were tape-recorded. The interviews were structured according to a set of questions based on the objectives of the study, however, some interviews were given spaces wherein the interviewees could narrate the stories of their rehabilitation efforts so as to give more context into the different parties’ actions. Letters were sent ahead of time along with a request for interview that includes their informed consent. The informed consent was written both in English and Hiligaynon, in which the interviewee could have utilized to fully understand the nature of the interview, and the study itself.

All the interviewees signed the consent forms that were written in English. However, the interviews did not fully run using the English language since the interviewees were aware that the researcher could also speak the dialect.

27 Scope and Limitation

As mentioned, the interviews with local barangay officials and their constituents did not push through due to unforeseen circumstances wherein they refused to sign consent forms at the last minute, therefore, the researcher could not conduct the interview in the intended manner

(tape-recorded, transcribed). With this in consideration, this study could not be taken to be representative of all the communities in the island province of Guimaras, especially its bystander public.

Furthermore, the bystander public in this study has been therefore limited to an assumed independent media. The member of the academe was also considered to be part of the bystander public, however, in the course of the rehabilitation process, they have been part of the government task force that studied the impact of the oil spill.

Also, there was no elected government official interviewed in this study. The researcher believes that there is a different extent of accountability from that of an elected official to one who is already part of the plantilla. Being an elected official entails directly addressing the needs through coursing executive orders or legislation. However, the elected officials, namely the mayor of worst hit town of Nueva Valencia and the governor of the province of Guimaras were not entirely up to the task of being interviewed for the study despite explaining to them and sending informed consent forms.

Nonetheless, all those who were interviewed for this study admitted that they were most active in their respective services during the first three years of the post-oil spill years. They guaranteed that they answered the guide questions in the interview, and narrated their experience to the best of their memory.

28 Significance of the study

Ten years after the incident, there have been no reports of benefits given to victims by the

PNOC or the MT Solar 1 management. Most aid and rehabilitation programs have been coursed through NGOs, and local government officials. There is a need to evaluate the measures done in order to regain the livelihood and socioeconomic conditions, not only in the context of aid, but permanent rehabilitation of conditions that were lost during the 2006 MT Solar 1 Oil Spill. Being a top tier oil spill caused by private corporations, accountability must be in place in order to address the needs of the victims.

29 VI. Politics of rehabilitation and ecodemocracy in Guimaras

The sinking of the eighteen year old motor tanker near the coasts of Guimaras had undeniable effects on not only the natural resources of Guimaras, but also to the socioeconomic conditions that were dependent on those natural resources. 2.1 million liters of bunker oil have managed to seep through the lives of around 150,000 people who were mainly living through the fishing industry.

Being dubbed as the ‘worst environmental accident’ by the Arroyo administration and even the ‘worst oil spill’ case in recent history (Yender et al 2008), the MT Solar 1 oil spill severely affected fishing and subsistence villages. During the course of the interviews conducted, the news writer from Philippine Daily Inquirer, who mostly covered disaster areas, has emphasized how disasters always affect the poorest poor populations. They are always the most vulnerable, and with the oil spill hitting subsistent villages in Guimaras, their circumstances at that time were unimaginable.

The interviews revealed that the status of the rehabilitation process has been a contentious topic. It was in 2009 that a formal class suit of 1000 people against Petron and Sunshine

Maritime Development Corporation (owner of the MT Solar 1 oil tanker) was placed in pre-trial arrangements for the compensation of benefits for those whose fishing livelihood were directly affected. The complainants were mostly small-time fisherfolk who acknowledged that their source of livelihood could not return the same profits as the pre-oil spill times. Furthermore, it was only in 2012 that the case was formally brough to court wherein criminal and civil cases were filed against the two companies seeking Php 200 million in damages for the effects of the

2.1 million tons of oil that spilled in the waters of Guimaras. While the case is still underway, the people of Guimaras remain to be in turmoil as they cope with the damage of their primary source

30 of livelihood. Two years after the case was first filed, Mayor Galila of worst hit town of Nueva

Valencia even wrote a personal letter to the Philippine president to intervene in the measures taken to compensate the claimants. It was a move showing the sheer desperation of the province that despite the budget allocated for the response and short-term rehabilitation, it was not enough to address long-term effects of the oil spill. By declaring a state of calamity shortly after the spill, the national government has been able to utilize national funds for a localized task force, the

Regional Task Force Solar I Oil Spill (RTFSOS), and concentrating its operations on different areas in Guimaras that needed attention according to the assigned government agencies like the

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the University of the Philippines

Visayas (UP Visayas), the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), etc.

With the presence of RTFSOS taking over studies and coming up with plans and policies, aid and rehabilitation efforts, such as relief operations were centered in the provincial capitol, wherein they implemented certain checks on the different barangays so that relief goods were evenly distributed. The RTFSOS also partnered with the UPV Oil Spill Response Program (UPV

OSRP) by employing them to do the on-ground research that will lead to policy suggestions.

For the member of the academe, there was an acceptance of an institutional partnership at that time. But she also noted that it needed the right synergy. There were times when the constituents in badly hit barangays were exhibiting cases of research fatigue. In some cases, they only agreed to be interviewed because of the token that came afterwards, which were usually in the form of groceries. The UPV OSRP’s findings gained attention from the media also.

Therefore, the findings were also published and heard in non-academic media. This provided room for the discussion of the various social aspects of the oil spill, since the scientific aspects were left to the experts.

31 Response operations were deemed fast-paced by the media. News reports would also show the influx of relief goods right after the incident. There were numerous NGOs and private companies that directly delivered such goods to Guimaras weeks after. However, rehabilitation was said to be at some extent selective. Immediate response efforts and alternative livelihood programs were prioritized to be given to fisherfolk, which was, at first, understandable, but the social movement organizations saw this as a form of exclusion – especially to those whose livelihood were dependent on fishing, such as full-time market workers, vendors, fishing boat workers, delivery-people, etc. In airing the grievances of the non-fisherfolk, social movement organizations from nearby island of Panay (provinces of Antique and Iloilo), saw the opportunity to discuss these among the residents of two inland barangays and an island barangay in order for them to organize and demand compensation from the government. This was faced with contention by the government since it was aiming to centralize its operations in the provincial center. However, the social movement organizations continued their organizing efforts and relief operations in the three barangays.

When asked about the politicking in a post-disaster community such as in Guimaras, the interviewees were divided in their statements. For the local disaster management office, whose operations mainly depended on the national government’s orders and the orders of the governor, unjust selection when it came to the distribution of goods was only prevalent in the barangay level as it was somehow part of their normal dynamic. She further asserted that barangay officials however were specifically tasked not to engage in such corrupt practices. The media confirms such practice in the barangay level also, that if a family was not seen as supportive of the barangay captain’s party or ka-partido, that family would not receive relief goods or would receive less than what the others are receiving, since there are organizations that directly give

32 their goods to the barangay captain for distribution. This private corporation/NGO to barangay captain dynamic was seen by the social movement organizations as the most prevalent. Since the barangay captain or other barangay officials basically had discretion over the massive amounts of relief goods that NGOs and private institutions delivered in their barangay, it became political capital for the political opportunity of some officials; that unlike the centralized operations of the government, despite the bureaucratic process involved, goods were accounted for.

On the national and regional task force level, wherein the academe was mostly involved, the interviewee asserted that the members of the academe were detached from the politics.

However, it cannot be denied that the large amount of money that was allocated for the operations of the regional and national agencies concentrating their work on the Guimaras Oil

Spill would be a target of corrupt practices.

The MT Solar Oil Spill, however, was the ‘greatest lesson’ that the Guimaras province had ever encountered. The lessons from the post-oil experience even transcended into the national disaster framework. It was through the Guimaras oil spill experience that in 2010, a new law, Republic Act 10121 was enacted in order to address the gaps of then Presidential Decree

1516, the only law in place for disaster management. Acknowledging that the province in itself was in no way capable of addressing the issues alone, various training programs were in put into action by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) through local agencies to address the limited knowledge and skills among government officials and constituents as well. A 70/30 mechanism was developed by the NDRRMC for faster response to disasters. Today, 70% of the local disaster risk management fund is called the quick response fund, wherein there is no need for the executive to order budget allocations in light of declaration of state of calamity. The remaining 30% of the funds are to be used for training programs in line

33 with disaster risk reduction and management. This is in line with the objective that the public’s awareness of the hazards of the islands are also important. The public should also be a priority.

They are the first to respond, not the PDRRMO. Response time is key in coastal areas. If the people in coasts are prepared, they can be of service more efficiently. In the case of Guimaras, oil spill workshops are still being held on a regular basis until 2017. It is where it was developed that oil spills in the Philippines were ‘human-induced hazards’ and island provinces such as

Guimaras should prioritize such hazards, to prevent them leading to man-made disasters.

34 VII. Social Movements in Post-Disaster Guimaras

When assumed that social movements and social movement organizations are essential to an ecodemocratic process in a government, it cannot be discounted that social movement organizations are likely to be present in post-disaster communities wherein deprivation and discontent is prevalent. During the course of the interviews with the cadre members of the social movement organizations that were present during the response stages up to the rehabilitation stages, a recurring theme continues to emerge: that social movement organizations tend to persist in the grassroots level – worst hit barangays in general.

Social movement organizations present in Guimaras during the post-disaster made first touch with worse hit barangays, in which, the local government had not been able to address immediately due to the inaccessibility of roads to the barangays. A social movement organization was born out of the Guimaras oil spill incident, namely, the Save Our Lives, SOS! Panay and

Guimaras. It was established through the centralizing the operations in the Iglesia Filipina

Independiente and the United Church of Christ of the Philippines. The cadres of the movement were members of three national social movement organizations: Karapatan- Alliance for the

Advancement of People’s Rights, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN), Gabriela Women’s

Party. They were also members or supporters of the Madia-as Ecological Movement, an environmental, and anti-mining alliance mainly based in Antique, a province in Panay. The

Madi-as Ecological Movement prides itself with having been vital members of the lobbies against large mining companies in Antique, wherein a moratorium on mining has existed since

2002.

From the Guimaras incident, the Save Our Lives, SOS! Panay and Guimaras has been a broad alliances of organizations, institutions, groups and individuals bonded together to address

35 the issues and concerns brought about by the oil spill tragedy in Guimaras, Philippines on August

11, 2006. Its mandate has been to address relief and medical assistance of the affected population and advocates speedy total clean-up of the affected shorelines and the immediate removal of the remaining bunker fuel from the sunken vessel in the Guimaras Strait. It is also affiliated with the

Panay Citizens’ Disaster and Response Center (PCDR) which describes itself as a a non-stock non- profit disaster response organization which serves vulnerable sectors of natural and man- made calamities. Its main activities included organizing and advocacy work among the less vulnerable sector, PCDR maintains a pool of committed volunteers to carry on the different aspects of disaster response. PCDR has generated the broadest support for its programs through availing of its national resource mobilization that remains to develop local and international linkages to increase its capacity to respond to calamities in ways which are most meaningful to the victims. PCDR is an active member of the Citizens’ Disaster Response Network, a broad network of disaster management NGOs committed to serving the vulnerable sectors using the community-based disaster management approach.

Two main events of this social movement organization can be seen as the crystallization of their political opportunity during the post-disaster times. One, Save Our Lives, SOS! and the

Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya or National

Federation of Small Fisherfolk Organizations in the Philippines), in support of the plight of victims of Guimaras oil spill tragedy in 2006 have asked lawmakers to pass a law that would focus on the rehabilitation of Guimaras and other affected areas over the next three years, adding that the proposed fund of Php10 billion of August 17, 2007) for rehabilitation should come from

Petron Corp. The alliance of the two organizations appealed to senators and congressmen to enact a bill they initially referred to as the Guimaras Rehabilitation Act. They claim to have been

36 vigilant on the disbursement of national funds and the alleged inactions of Petron, describing their livelihood programs as mere roadshow presentations for the larger, more costly problems that it did not want to address. Fisherfolk and affected residents of the Guimaras oil spill said

Petron Corp. was merely engaged in massive propaganda blitz to repair its damaged reputation in the internal community.

Two, the less publicized October 2006 demonstration that the Save Our Lives, SOS! Panay and Guimaras have said to championed, a thousand residents from ten different barangays were said to have organized from the grassroots level into the town plaza in order show the local government that the people from the barangay have organized themselves due to the deprivation caused by that of the bureaucratic process of centralizing the relief operations. Indeed, it was indicative of how social movement organizations were an alternative- only when the people had been aggravated by deprivation by the government, in contrast with their mandate. The Save Our

Lives, SOS! Panay and Guimaras remains at present to be an environmentalist organization that provides additional training programs to the people who involved in the in-land alternative livelihood programs.

37 VIII. Summary, Conclusion, Recommendations

Summary

Different perceptions have arisen regarding the role of social movement organizations in the context of post-disaster communities. However, this cannot be discounted to the perceptions that other institutions, such as NGOs and local agencies are also in contention among each other regarding their specific role during the aftermath of the Guimaras oil spill.

In post-disaster times, it remains consistent in the interviews that disasters, regardless of being naturally-caused or human-induced, always affects the poorest population. The media has portrayed this image of disasters in various instances, including the politicized post-Yolanda supertyphoon experience. It is in this situation that deprivation exists in the community as people compete for aid and to get them by.

The poverty incidence in Guimaras has been highest in 2006 with a gradual decrease up to the present. At surface level, it may look like the province has been improving in terms of their economic conditions. The decrease in poverty incidence in Guimaras has been attributed to the rise of various private beach resorts, in an attempt to shift the fishing economy into a tourist one.

These are privately owned resorts that have managed to spring upon the post-disaster times have generated jobs for the province.

Overall, efforts to rehabilitate the post-disaster situation in Guimaras was initiated by the local government, specifically, that of the provincial level. The governor at that time was generally keen on addressing the needs of the different barangays. Yet, the resources of the provincial government were limited to the relief operations of the NGOs and private institutions.

National government, having the monopoly of lumpsum funds at that time, was more capable of handling longterm efforts for rehabilitation that involved inter-agency cooperation. In the gaps

38 that cannot be filled by the services of the local and national government, such as the long and bureaucratic process of acquiring relief goods, social movement organizations such as the Save

Our Lives, SOS! Panay and Guimaras posed as an alternative resource pool for the people at the verge of poverty. Not only do the adherents to this social movement organization receive relief goods, but also livelihood trainings that are independent from the government, but were not seen as a competing source. The resources pooled by the social movement organizations came mostly from their national counterparts, acknowledging that in post-disaster times, resources such as aid, could never deemed ‘too much’. The proper channels and a vigilant cadre in the organization should be able to distribute the goods evenly, leaving the bureaucratic process behind. The adherents were also taught on social movement strategies and tactics such as self-organizing seeing that the demands of the people from the badly hit barangays of Guimaras should be able to also air their demands even without the help of the main social movement cadres that were from Panay Island.

Conclusion

Based on the interviews and analyzing the recurring themes mentioned in them, this study can conclude that social movement organization such as that of the grassroots-built Save Our

Lives, SOS! Panay and Guimaras were efficient in organizing people who were most deprived: those coming from worst hit and inaccessible barangays, however, social movement organizations were seen as an alternative since the people had first clamored to the government for help, in accordance with their mandate. Also, it cannot be denied that it was not only the fisherfolk community that was severely affected by the oil spill. In a fishing economy such as

Guimaras island, almost all of the jobs in their workforce can be directly or indirectly interlaced

39 to fishing, wherein the loss of a source of fish can affect the profits and wages of the people.

During the post-disaster, in-land livelihood programs had been in place and are being continued through providing the means to start activities such as poultry, however, this cannot be taken as a long term solution to fishing. Guimaras remains to be an island province and there is a need to rehabilitate the waters around it that is the most potent source of livelihood. The private companies involved in the oil spill can be seen as the most accountable to the sludge and its effects on the population. Both corporations have not been fully accountable for the implication of their actions in 2006. They have managed to create programs to provide a semblance of accountability and establish itself in the communities. Nonetheless, ecodemocratic processes, the militant nature of social movement organizations, and the vigilance of the government officials, are critical to holding accountability of the private corporations to the actions and inactions that they have done in the past decade.

Recommendations

For the betterment of addressing post-disaster problems, this research would like to recommend policy changes in the local government offices such as the decentralization of aid and rehabilitation work, and the need to have a data-bank containing the population of Guimaras and the livelihood program to which they are part of. With this, relief goods, as well as other programs can be specific to a certain demographic and can be utilized more effectively.

For research, there is a need to do a survey of changes that occurred in the lives of fisherfolk and fisherfolk-dependent populations, especially in the worst hit barangays, a decade after the incident happened. Migration patterns can also be indicative of the socioeconomic conditions in the area. Also, an interview with a publicly elected official who has been in politics

40 since 2006 would be a good comparison to that of an unelected government official. An interview with an elected official may account for a change in discourse when it comes to government accountability or the demand for accountability, in this case, the man-made disaster.

41 IX. Bibliography

 Abila, S.S. and Parcon, C.R.F. (2014). Corporate Social Responsibility in the Philippines in the

Context of a Disaster. Life Interrupted: Social Science Insights from the 2006 M/T Solar 1 Oil

Spill. UPV Oil Spill Response Program, Miagao, Iloilo.

 AGHAM-Advocates of Science and Technology for the People, Center for Environmental

Concerns-Philippines (CEC-Phils) and Bayan Muna-Panay. (2014). Rapid Assessment of the

Environmental and Health Impacts of the Estancia Oil Spill Incident TECHNICAL REPORT.

 Asong, R. et al. (2014) Gender Dimensions of the M/T Solar 1 Oil Spill Disaster in Guimaras,

Philippines. Life Interrupted: Social Science Insights from the 2006 M/T Solar 1 Oil Spill. UPV

Oil Spill Response Program, Miagao, Iloilo.

 Balena, R. (2014). Priority responses to the 2006 Guimaras oil spill, Philippines: Will history

repeat itself?. 2014 Elsevier Ltd. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2014.11.007

 Defiesta, G. (2007). Indirect Use of Values of Oil-Spill Affected Mangroves in Guimaras

th Island . 10 National Convention on Statistics (NCS). EDSA Shangri-La Hotel October 1-2,

2007

 EJF (2011) Fisheries and Food Security in the Commonwealth. Environmental Justice

Foundation.

 FAO. (2013) Resilient Livelihoods – Disaster Risk Reduction for Food and Nutrition Security

Framework Programme.

 Faridi, R. and Wadood S.N. (2010). An Econometric Assessment of Household Food Security in

Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Development Studies, Vol. 33, No. 3 (September 2010), pp. 97-

111. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23339854

 IFAD (2009). Community-driven development decision tools for rural development programs.

42 Intenrational Fund for Agricultural Development.

 Hall, R.A. (2014). Governance during Disasters: A Second Look at Intra Government and Non-

Governmental Coordination during the Response and Rehabilitation Efforts Following the 2006

Guimaras Oil Spill. Life Interrupted: Social Science Insights from the 2006 M/T Solar 1 Oil

Spill. UPV Oil Spill Response Program, Miagao, Iloilo.

 Hall, R.A. (2014). The Many Faces of a Tier 3 Oil Spill: Governance, Livelihoods, Gender and

Resilience. Life Interrupted: Social Science Insights from the 2006 M/T Solar 1 Oil Spill. UPV

Oil Spill Response Program, Miagao, Iloilo.

 Kanna K.P et al. (2000). Concerns on Food Security. Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 35,

No. 45 (Nov. 4-10, 2000), pp. 3919-3922. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4409916

 Lizada J.C. et al. (2014). Livelihood Initiatives in Response to Disasters: The Case of M/T Solar

1 Oil Spill. Life Interrupted: Social Science Insights from the 2006 M/T Solar 1 Oil Spill. UPV

Oil Spill Response Program, Miagao, Iloilo.

 Raghavan, M. (2006). Food Security or Politics. Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 41, No. 21

(May 27 - Jun. 2, 2006), pp. 2057- 2059. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4418257

 Rukandema, M. and Gürkan., A.A (2004). FOOD EMERGENCIES, FOOD SECURITY AND

ECONOMIC PROGRESS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. Economic and Social

Development Department, Food and Agriculture Organization.

 Siason, I.M. (nd). Women in Fisheries in the Philippines.

 Siason, I.M., and Suyo, J.G. (2014). Response and Recovery Efforts of Selected Communities

Affected by an Oil Spill: Implications on Resilience and Gender. Life Interrupted: Social Science

Insights from the 2006 M/T Solar 1 Oil Spill. UPV Oil Spill Response Program, Miagao, Iloilo.

 World Bank Group. (2013). Building Resilience, Equity and Opportunity in Myanmar: The Role

43 of Social Protection. World Bank Group: Social Protection and Labor.

 Yender et al. (2008). IMPACTS AND RESPONSE CHALLENGES OF THE TANKER

SOLAR 1 OIL SPILL, GUIMARAS, PHILIPPINES: OBSERVATIONS OF

INTERNATIONAL ADVISORS.

44 Appendix A

Informed Consent Form

POLITICAL SCIENCE PROGRAM COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES MANILA The Health Sciences Center

INFORMED CONSENT FORM

Informed Consent Form for ______

This informed consent form is for Key Informant Interviewees/ In-depth Interviewees who are part of the academe, the media, the social movement organizations, the local government unit, and the bystander public and who we are invited to participate in this research with a working title: “Ecodemocracy in post-disaster communities: The case of social movements in the post-MT Solar 1 oil spill in Guimaras Island”

Marie Athena C. Ybañez Researcher Bachelor of Arts in Political Science University of the Philippines Manila

This Informed Consent Form has two parts: • Information Sheet (to share information about the study with you) • Certificate of Consent (for signatures if you choose to participate)

45 Part I: Information Sheet

Introduction I am Marie Athena C. Ybañez, 4th Year BA Political Science student from the University of the Philippines Manila and a resident of Iloilo City. I am currently working on a seminar paper, with a working title "Ecodemocracy in post-disaster communities: the case of social movements in the post-MT Solar 1 Oil Spill in Guimaras Island" as one of the final requirements of the program.

Purpose of the research This study aims to assess the extent to which people see social movements as placing external pressures on institutions involved in man made disasters so that they can make demands for their environmental rights and government accountability for such.

Type of Research Intervention This research will involve your participation in a 1-to-1 interview that will take about 1- 2 hours.

Participant Selection You are being invited to take part in this research because the researcher feels that your experience as a member of the academe/ media/ social movement organization/ local government unit/ bystander public in a post-disaster community can contribute much to the understanding of social movements in post-disaster communities.

Voluntary Participation Your participation in this study is entirely voluntary. It is your choice whether or not you want to participate. You may also change your mind and stop participating in the study at any time.

Risks The researcher anticipates minimal risks. There might be questions that may require you to share information that you might deem confidential, or that would make you feel uncomfortable. You do not have to answer any question or take part in the interview if you feel the question(s) are too personal or if talking about them makes you uncomfortable.

Benefits There are no direct benefits to your participation in the study beyond the general knowledge that you are assisting the researcher in her requirement, and for the advancement of knowledge. All the data gathered will be used for academic purposes, and for purposes that may benefit entire post-disaster community. All the data gathered will be used to expand, update, and add to the gaps in literature with regard to the issue, and as reference to future policies. There is no compensation to be expected with participation in the study.

Confidentiality

46 If revealing your identity may draw unwanted attention in the community or for any other purposes, any information about you will have a number on it instead of your name. Any reference to you will be done through a pseudonym, including direct quotes from your responses. This document and others including recordings, notes, and the like, that may reveal your identity as a participant will be kept in private where only the researcher has access to. Data gathered from your participation will only be available for viewing of the researcher, and the thesis adviser.

47 Part II: Certificate of Consent

By signing this document, I acknowledge that the researcher has explained my rights, what is required of me, and the potential risks I may face. I understand there is no compensation for my participation, or there be any direct benefit to me. By signing this document and providing my contact information, I am giving my consent to participate in this study. I voluntarily give my consent, out of my own volition, to participate in this study on the topic of the social movements in post-disaster communities.

For any concerns, you may contact me, or my thesis adviser. You may ask a copy of this document, or the study for your own records.

Print Name of Participant______Signature of Participant ______Date ______Day/month/year

If illiterate 1

I have witnessed the accurate reading of the consent form to the potential participant, and the individual has had the opportunity to ask questions. I confirm that the individual has given consent freely.

Print name of witness______Thumb print of participant

Signature of witness ______Date ______Day/month/year

Statement by the researcher

I confirm that the participant was given an opportunity to ask questions about the study, and all the questions asked by the participant have been answered correctly and to the best of my ability. I confirm that the individual has not been coerced into giving consent, and the consent has been given freely and voluntarily.

A copy of this ICF has been provided to the participant. Print Name of Researcher ______Signature of Researcher ______Date ______Day/month/year

1 A literate witness must sign (if possible, this person should be selected by the participant and should have no connection to the research team). Participants who are illiterate should include their thumb print as well.

48 X. Appendix B

SAMPLE ATTACHMENT TO INFORMED CONSENT FORM

Informed Consent Form (ENGLISH)

Title of Research Project: Ecodemocracy in post-disaster communities: The case of social movements in the post-MT Solar 1 oil spill in Guimaras Island”

I, the research participant, express my willingness to participate in this study and give my consent to participate in the study. By signing this form, I have formally given my consent to the following:

• I give my consent to be interviewed on the topic of the study. • I give my consent that the data collected from the interview be analyzed by the principal investigator and research adviser(s) to fulfill the requirements of the study. • I reserve the right of freedom of choice such that in any event throughout the study I may revoke my consent and choose not to further participate in the study. • I have understood the terms of this informed consent form and that if the need arises, I have the right to contact the principal investigator and or the research adviser(s) and address any concerns regarding the study.

______Signature Date Printed name / Position (leave blank if using anonymity)

______Signature of principal investigator Date Printed name

49 Appendix C

SAMPLE ATTACHMENT TO INFORMED CONSENT FORM (HILIGAYNON)

PAGSUGOT SA PAG-INTERBYU (HILIGAYNON)

Titulo sang gina-tun-an: Demokrasya sa mga sosyodad kung diin may natabo nga sakuna: Ang kaso sang Guimaras pagkatapos sang MT Solar 1 Oil Spill

Ako, ang naga-intra sa pagtuon nga ini, ang gapahayag sang pagsugot sa pag-intra. Sa akon pagpirma sang ini nga papel, ginapahayag ko ang akon nga pagsugot sa pag-intra sa gina-tun-an sang ga ubra sang pagtuon.

♣ Ga-sugot ako nga ma-interbyu hilabot sa pagtuon.

♣ Ga-sugot ako nga ang makuha nga inpormasyon sa ini nga interbyu ang puwede gamiton kag interpretahon sang principal nga gatuon kag sang propesor nga gabantay sang pagtuon.

♣ Naka-reserba sa akon ang desisyon nga maghalin sa ini nga pagtuon, bisan san-o ko pili- on, kung hindi ko na gusto nga maging parte sang ini nga pagtuon.

♣ Naintindihan ko ang mga ginahambal sang ini nga pagsugot kag kung may ara ako sang gusto ipalab-ot sa nagatuon, ukon sa iya propesor nga gabantay, puwede ko sila hambalan bisan pagkatapos sining interbyu.

______Pirma Petsa Ngalan kag Posisyon sa Komunidad (puwede man blangkuhan)

______Pirma sang naga-imbestiga Petsa Ngalan

50