A Japanese dynamic positioning vessel (DPV) equipped with a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) has arrived in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro to help in the containment of the oil spill from the sunken M/T Princess Empress.

“A Japanese DPV, the Shin Nichi Maru, equipped with a ROV or underwater robot, arrived today (Monday) in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro to determine the actual condition of the sunken vessel, which was loaded with 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil prior to its mishap on February 28, 2023,” Office of Civil Defense (OCD) spokesperson Assistant Secretary Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said in a statement on Monday.

National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) executive director and OCD administrator Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Commodore Heronimo Tuvilla, and Oriental Mindoro Governor Humerlito Dolor and the OCD-Mimaropa oversaw the deployment of the ROV.

“The ROV will provide an assessment report on the actual condition of the submerged vessel within three to five days. The report will provide the government the basis to undertake further steps to control the spill from its source,” Alejandro said.

Earlier, Tuvilla, who is the incident commander, together with Calapan City Mayor Malou Morillo, Pola Mayor Jennifer Cruz, Dolor, and members of the Customs, Immigration, Quarantine, Security (CIQS) group discussed the ongoing oil spill management operations including the entry and deployment the Shin Nichi Maru.

The officials also conducted an assessment of the oil spill in Pola, Oriental Mindoro.

Menwhile, Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro called for an aggressive clean-up of the oil spill affecting Mabini, Bauan, Lobo, San Luis, San Pascual and Tingloy, all municipalities in her district.

The oil spill is now threatening the Verde Island Passage (VIP).

Marine experts and conservationists refer to the Verde Island Passage as the “center of the center of marine shore fish biodiversity.”

It is in the heart of the Coral Triangle, which is located in the Philippines Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands at Timor-Leste. In it are 500 species of reef-building corals and one-third of all coral-reef fish species in the world. The Verde Island Passage is the most diverse marine ecosystem on earth.

“It is time for us to unite in bayanihan and be aggressive in containing and cleaning up the oil spill. I am sure the people in our district as well as the rest of Batangas, the islands of Mindoro, Romblon and nearby provinces, would volunteer and work to save the Verde Island Passage,” Luistro said.

The solon is suggesting to tap the resources of the Department of Labor and Employment – Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (DOLE – TUPAD), Department of Social Work and Development Assistance for Individuals in Crisis Situations (DSWD – AICS), among other government funds for this purpose.

Luistro filed House Bill No. 6089, which sought to declare the Verde Island Passage (VIP) as an ecotourism zone. Philippine News Agency, Jester Manalastas