Oil spill probe urged
MAJORITY Leader Francis “Tol” Tolentino noted how laxity and negligence in the government’s regulation of the shipping industry could have led to the massive oil spill from the ill-fated MT Terranova last July 25.
During the hearing of the Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change on Wednesday, August 14, Tolentino said stricter regulations and better protocols could have prevented the oil spill, as well as the sinking of two other vessels with questionable registration documents.
It was the senator who filed Senate Resolution No. 1084, which seeks to investigate the disasterl and determine its effects to marine ecosystem and biodiversity, and the livelihoods of 42,000 fisherfolk in Bataan, Cavite, Metro Manila, and neighboring provinces.
Earlier, Tolentino called on the government to extend assistance and alternative livelihoods to fishermen from Bataan, Cavite, Metro Manila, and other coastal communities that were devastated by the oil spill from the sunken tanker in the waters of Limay, Bataan.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) estimates that the damage caused by the oil spill and subsequent fishing ban to the livelihood of 28,373 fishermen in Bataan, Cavite, Metro Manila, and neighboring provinces will reach P78.69 million.
