MURKY LIVELIHOOD PROSPECTS. Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel are seen here in March 2023 siphoning ocean water mixed with oil in Oriental Mindoro waters for evaluation. The oil spill displaced over 27,000 workers in the province, mostly fisherfolk. (Photo courtesy of PCG)
CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro – Life is almost back to normal in several coastal villages in this province nearly 11 months after over 800,000 liters of industrial fuel were spilled in the waters near Naujan town, but government agencies say it may be premature to turn the page on this chapter of history.
In an interview on Thursday, Ram Joseph Temeña, operations and warning division head at the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO), said activities related to the oil clean-up ceased late in 2023 because all that was left were faint traces of petroleum in a handful of areas.
“Sometimes we would still see a little bit of oil suspended on the water surface. But they would quickly dissipate. You won’t even notice unless you look hard. Fishing activities in coastal villages considered 'ground zero' last year have mostly resumed,” he told the Philippine News Agency in Filipino.
Temeña said with the cleanup phase now behind them, the provincial government has fully turned its focus on rehabilitation and recovery efforts, a phase which kicked off almost immediately after the oil spill occurred and continues to this day.
It can be recalled the worst oil spill disaster in this island province’s history began on Feb. 28, 2023, when rough seas caused the MV Princess Empress, a medium-sized oil tanker owned by Manila-based RDC Reield Marine Services, to capsize off the coast of the municipality of Naujan.
Following the sinking, this ship’s cargo of about 800,000 to 900,000 liters of industrial fuel (a blanket term for fuels used to power factories) quickly leaked from its damaged hull and spread across ten coastal towns and the provincial capital of Calapan.
In the immediate aftermath, all types of fishing operations, ocean-related tourism activities as well as select retail businesses in the towns of Bansud, Bongabong, Bulalacao, Gloria, Mansalay, Naujan, Pinamalayan, Pola, Puerto Galera, Roxas, and Calapan City were suspended by the provincial government.
Economic loss
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) data showed at least 27,000 Oriental Mindoro workers lost their jobs as a direct result of the oil spill.
In response, the DOLE created an “emergency employment” program that would hire on a short-term basis thousands of individuals whose livelihoods have been disrupted by the man-made calamity.
Those hired were tasked to perform a wide range of mostly manual jobs and paid minimum wage for their temporary services.
“Many of them (displaced workers) are fishermen… and because of the oil in their fishing grounds, they no longer have any product to sell. The government has to step in to help them… as well as workers from other sectors that have lost their means to earn,” now-retired DOLE Undersecretary Ciriaco Lagunzad Jr. said in an interview in April.
He clarified, however, that the displaced workers were not hired to take part in the oil cleanup as that task was deemed “too risky” for people with no training in the removal of hazardous wastes.
Government intervention
With no hope that the fishing ban would be lifted anytime soon, the department launched a series of “training cum production” activities across Oriental Mindoro’s coastal towns in a bid to teach displaced fishermen new skills that could come in handy for generating alternative livelihood.
Among them was a 15-day fiberglass boat-making course that was conducted by the DOLE in collaboration with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to teach the fishermen, and other displaced workers a valuable new skill while being paid for their participation.
Naomi Abellana, DOLE 4-B (Mimaropa) director, said participants received a daily stipend of PHP355, equivalent to the minimum wage in the region last year.
She noted that her office also worked to give participants Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) National Certification 2 (NC2) eligibility to put them in the country's pool of skilled workers.
“If they (fishermen) can secure their NC2 eligibility, not only will they be entitled to gain ownership of the boats they make and the stipend, but we can also give them fishing gear as a bonus,” Abellana said in an interview in May.
The DOLE further ramped up its training cum production push by putting hundreds of displaced workers through various training courses in hopes of offering them interim livelihood while the province’s oceans remained contaminated.
Rameses Torres, a senior labor and employment officer at DOLE’s Oriental Mindoro provincial office, said the agency offered short courses on such fields as small engine repair, organic farming, carpentry, masonry, and motor vehicle driving.
He noted that participants were compensated for their time, allowing them to make ends meet despite the disruption brought on by the oil spill.
“We (DOLE) paid the trainees PHP365 per day or PHP5,325 for their attendance in a 15-day training program. But some of the classes can last as long as 38 days,” Torres said in Filipino.
By May, Oriental Mindoro Governor Humerlito Dolor began lifting the fishing ban in coastal towns where the oil had sufficiently dissipated.
Fisherfolk in the towns of Bongabong, Roxas, Masalay, Bulalacao, Baco, San Teodoro and Puerto Galera were the first to resume fishing activities.
At present, subsistence and commercial fishing operations as well as other ocean-based livelihood activities in the province are back in full swing.
However, both the provincial government and national agencies have said that many of the livelihood support programs piloted during the height of the environmental catastrophe would remain for the meantime.
Food, livelihood aid
On the side of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Assistant Secretary for Strategic Communications Romel Lopez said it has aligned its response with human capital investment core programs such as the provision of family food packs (FFPs), Cash-for-Work (CFW), Emergency Cash Transfer (ECT), Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS), and Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP).
The DSWD had provided food packs to more than 29,300 residents in six waves of relief distribution while the seventh and eighth FFP distribution were facilitated by provincial governments, according to Lopez.
More than 17,000 affected fisherfolk, who own motorized and non-motorized boats, were given emergency cash assistance amounting to over PHP187.3 million to help them meet their daily needs.
More than PHP74.4 million in humanitarian aid were likewise given to oil spill-affected individuals under the AICS program.
The CFW program extended employment opportunities to 27,448 affected fisherfolk and residents in some areas of Oriental Mindoro and Palawan.
Some 944 affected residents from the municipalities of Pola, Bansud, Gloria, Bongabong, Roxas, Victoria, Bulalacao, Pinamalayan, Naujan, and the City of Calapan in Oriental Mindoro received cash grants under the SLP to help them undertake an initial startup for their long-term economic source.
Over PHP10 million in livelihood grants were provided to help the beneficiaries start anew with their chosen livelihood and business. (with a report from Zaldy De Layola/PNA)
