SUNKEN TANKER. Underwater photo of MT Princess Empress taken by a Japanese submersible drone. The oil tanker sank off Naujan town, Oriental Mindoro province on Feb. 28, 2023, causing an oil spill in the waters of the provinces of Antique, Batangas, Oriental Mindoro and Palawan. (Photo from Gov. Dolor's Facebook account)
CALAPAN, Oriental Mindoro – Multiple government agencies are combining their resources to immediately address the loss of livelihood that arose from the recent capsizing of MT Princess Empress, which spilled a huge amount of industrial fuel in the waters off the province's coastal towns.
In an interview on Wednesday, Labor Undersecretary Ciriaco Lagunzad Jr. said concerned agencies signed a memorandum of understanding (MOA) as the first step towards a massive “training cum production” effort.
Involved government agencies include the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Oriental Mindoro provincial government.
Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma, Tourism Undersecretary Shereen Gail Yu-Pamintuan, TESDA Director General Danilo Cruz, and Governor Humerlito Dolor signed the MOA on behalf of their agencies in ceremonies that took place in Calapan City on Monday.
“We (the government) have to do this intervention now in view of the estimated 27,000 people who have suddenly lost their livelihood because of the oil spill. It was not only Mindoro’s fisherfolk who were displaced by the environmental crisis, many businesses that were thriving were also forced to close down,” Lagunzad said.
He said that multi-agency response begins with the training of displaced workers on new skills, so they can engage in other income-generating endeavors while their communities recover from the oil spill’s effects.
Trainees undergoing the 10 to 15-day skills training courses will receive allowances equivalent to minimum wage, he added.
Lagunzad said upon their graduation, the trainees will also receive material support to help them get started on new livelihood opportunities. (Michelle Hernando/PNA)
