MANILA - President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday ordered several government agencies to look into the impact of the oil spill off the waters of Bataan. 

Marcos told the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of Science and Technology, and the Philippine Coast Guard to assess the environmental impact of an oil spill after a tanker carrying 1.4 metric tons of industrial fuel oil capsized off Bataan’s coast early Thursday morning.

The President gave the directive during a situation briefing held at the Presidential Security Command compound, shortly after the MT Terra Nova capsized some 3.5 nautical miles off the coastal barangay of Lamao, in Limay, Bataan.

“Can we add an instruction to the DENR to make already an assessment on the environmental impact of this?,” the President said, noting that environmental experts need to identify coastal areas affected by the spill for the government to provide the necessary relief to affected communities.

“Basically, what we need to assess is where was the capsized vessel? The fuel is being released, what are the tides? What are the winds? Where is it headed? Para maunahan na natin. We need some determinations of that.”

The President however noted that strong winds and high waves are making it hard for the government to contain the oil spill 

“DOST maybe can also make some determinations on that. Hopefully, we can catch it before landfall. But with the seas being so... Malaki ang alon. Malaki ang dagat ngayon. The Coast Guard was reporting three, four meters high na alon. It’s very hard to do anything but hopefully, that will help us dilute the oil spill. But we’ll see, we have to make that determination as to where the tides are running, how the wind is running,” Marcos said. 

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista meanwhile said that they have already coordinated with the private sector to deploy their resources as soon as possible. 

“It (Terra Nova) capsized at 1 o’clock early this (Thursday) morning and there’s already an oil spill and right now we cannot dispatch our resources because of strong winds and high waves,” Bautista said.

“We already coordinated with the private sector, Harbor Star, and [it] will deploy the resources as soon as it will be possible,” he added. 

Sixteen of the 17 crew of the tanker have already been rescued by the Philippine Coast Guard, while the remaining crew remains missing Bautista said.

“The Coast Guard responded to the distress call. In 35 minutes, the Coast Guard was there. But in five minutes, the boat already capsized. We were able to rescue 16 out of 17 crew, one is missing. There are some other private sectors that responded to the distress call and right now, the crew members are in the Coast Guard Ship 9702 and they are being taken care of.”

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) deployed three 44-meter multi-role response vessels (MRRVs) to augment the oil spill response. 

“These vessels will start the application of oil dispersants to immediately mitigate impact, especially during the period where siphoning is being prepared,” CG Admiral PCG Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan said. 

“The PCG sets an operational target of seven days to finish siphoning the oil from the sunken tanker to stop further spread,” he added. 

The coast guard said it was working with several Oil Spill Response Organizations (OSRO) that expressed their intention to assist in the operations. Oil companies like Petron, the PCG Auxiliary (PCGA), and local governments also volunteered to help.