MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday said the government is looking to clean up the oil spill from a sunken tanker in Oriental Mindoro in less than 4 months.

The target is based on how the government cleaned up the 2006 Guimaras oil spill in 4 months, Marcos Jr. said in an interview on the sidelines of an event in Quezon City.

“Kung hindi kaya ng one month, hopefully less kasi yung Guimaras oil spill 4 na buwan bago ma-clean up e,” the President said.

“Kahit hindi 1 buwan, hindi naman namin siguro paabutin ng 4 na buwan,” he said.

(If it's not possible in one month, hopefully it will be less than the 4 months it took to clean up the Guimaras oil spill. If we can't do it a month, perhaps it will not take 4 months.)

In 2006, some 2 million liters of bunker fuel from a sunken tanker off the coast of Guimaras island wreaked havoc in the Panay Gulf and it took the government years to completely address the damage.

The Oriental Mindoro oil spill, which happened in late February, involved a tanker carrying some 800,000 liters of industrialized fuel. Spillage from the vessel has affected 10 municipalities in Oriental Mindoro and could possibly reach other coastal islands including Palawan, Antique and Romblon.

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Fisherfolk who were temporarily banned from sailing into affected waters were tapped to help the government in clean up efforts, Marcos Jr. said.

“‘Yung mga mangingisda hindi makapangisda kaya wala silang hanapbuhay. Pinalitan natin ng cash for work program dahil sila ang maglilinis,” the President said.

“Lahat nung mga lugar, lalo na mga fishing sanctuaries, tourist areas… talagang gagawa tayo ng program ng clean up para makabalik sa trabaho ang mga nandoon,” he said.

(Fishermen cannot sail off the affected waters so they have no livelihood. We tapped them to clean up under the cash for work program. We will create a cleanup program for all areas, especially fishing sanctuaries and tourist areas, so that residents can get work.)

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Japan has also committed to send experts to help stop the further spread of oil from the sunken tanker MT Princess Empress, Marcos said.

“Ito ay malaking bagay upang yung langis na hindi pa umaabot sa lupa ay puwede na nating harangin,” he said.

“Mayroon nang umabot dahil hindi natin nahanap noon kung saan ang barko,” he said.

(This is a big help so that we can contain the oil and prevent it from reaching land. The oil has reached some coastal areas before we found the vessel.)

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Cavite 4th District Rep. Elpidio Barzaga has filed House Resolution 829 seeking a House investigation into the oil spill and the sinking of MT Princess Empress, noting that the disaster could affect 20,000 hectares of coral reef, 9,900 hectares of mangroves, 6,000 hectares of seagrass, and marine habitats.

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