MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday said there was no need to create a new task force to oversee the ongoing oil spill cleanup in Oriental Mindoro.

“The task force for the oil spill is the coast guard,” Marcos Jr. told reporters in a chance interview.

“There is no need to reorganize something for everything… The idea is to have the assets in place… so they are ready already as it is,” he said.

• US to help Philippines clean up Mindoro oil spill: DND

The coast guard has been coordinating with “foreign aid that’s coming from Japan and the US” to speed up the containment of the spillage that has spread to other coastal areas, the President said.

Other agencies are also involved in the operations with the environment department assessing the damage and identifying areas that need to be cleaned and monitored, while the social welfare department is in charge of providing aid and alternative income to fisherfolk who were ordered to stay ashore due to the disaster, he said.

• DBM says funding 'enough' in oil spill aid in Mindoro

The MT Princess Empress was carrying some 800,000 liters of industrial fuel when it went down in rough seas in Oriental Mindoro on February 28.

The oil spill from the sunken tanker has reached parts of Palawan, while Oriental Mindoro has been placed under a state of calamity.

Marcos Jr. earlier said that the government targets to finish the clean up in less than 4 months.

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