August 18, 2006 – (Manila) – The island province of Guimaras located in the the western portion of the Visayas region in Central Philippines is now under an ecological disaster.
Guimaras Island province was created as a separate province from Iloilo in 1992 with its capital Jordan. The island boosts itself as an alternative tourist destination for its “virginal” coastlines. A young Lt. Douglas McArthur fell in love with the island and had himself built a resort with a wharf in 1903, which is still standing. The province is also a major producer and exporter of the sweet mango fruit (declared and certified by the United States Department of Agriculture as pest free). The entire island has a total land area of 604.6 square kilometer and can be reached by pump boat from Iloilo City.
Accidents are accidents and one can’t blame any or be blamed by anyone as long as there is a rational act of prevention but in the case of what happened to Guimaras is a story of an accident waiting to happen.
An oil tanker named MV Solar 1, contracted by the Saudi Aramco owned oil company Petron, was traversing the straight near Guimaras island when it capsized due to rough weather and is now spilling over half a million barrels of industrial oil.
The tanker is now submerged under 900 meters of water and is still leaking, already causing damage to 19.5 nautical miles of pristine mangrove coast of Guimaras, a breeding ground to over 100 species of fish in an area where fishing is the main source of income to over a million residents living in the coastlines.
The oil slick is being trashed by rough waters and aerial inspection reveals that it is about to reach neighboring islands as well as the famed beach resort and premier tourist destination of the Philippines, the island of Boracay.
The long term ecological damage of the oil slick is still undetermined and as of this time, the Philippine government is scurrying about to prevent the oil slick from causing further damage.
Over 1,110 hectares of mangrove on Guimaras island is now damaged with an oil slick including 26 hectares of the Taklong Island Marine Reserve and the extent of the damage will continue to spread with the inability of the government to handle such a large accident.
The Philippine Coast Guard has deployed a single scooper vessel to vacuum off the oil slick as efforts to put booms to contain the oil slick has failed due to the weather conditions in the area as affected by an intensified southwest monsoon in the area.
The government has also declared its need for international assistance to prevent the oil from destroying the ecological system in the area, declaring that the damage is so extensive that it can no longer manage this latest crisis alone.
Emergency teams in Malaysia who specialized in ecological accidents like this are being asked to assist while the Defense Department who manages disaster coordination will ask the U.S. government for assistance.
This latest damage is not just a major long-term concern that will severely affect the ecological system of fish-rich waters and to the pristine beach coastlines but it would also affect the livelihood of people in the area who depend on fishing as their only source of income.
This incident is nothing new, it has happened several times on a smaller manageable scale like last year when a similar oil spill accident happened in the same region.
Fortunately the incident was not as extensive as feared and the ecological damage has been controlled.
Again this is another case of learning from one’s mistakes and never doing it again.
Blame Mother Nature for her harshness with regards to the weather conditions that over turned the oil tanker.
Sure, why blame ourselves with our own ineptness and arrogance!
Damage has been done and the damage can not be undone.
Here again is another story of how we never took care of our natural resources and took for granted everything because we never thought first and considered the risks.
What could be more distressing in this case is that we know what damage has been done and we do have our moments of regrets but memories are short and not so sweet, forgetting and doing the same thing all over again.
When will this country ever learn? At this stage, and in this manner, an entire generation is not enough to make the change and for us to remember, never again.
Guimaras Island province was created as a separate province from Iloilo in 1992 with its capital Jordan. The island boosts itself as an alternative tourist destination for its “virginal” coastlines. A young Lt. Douglas McArthur fell in love with the island and had himself built a resort with a wharf in 1903, which is still standing. The province is also a major producer and exporter of the sweet mango fruit (declared and certified by the United States Department of Agriculture as pest free). The entire island has a total land area of 604.6 square kilometer and can be reached by pump boat from Iloilo City.
Accidents are accidents and one can’t blame any or be blamed by anyone as long as there is a rational act of prevention but in the case of what happened to Guimaras is a story of an accident waiting to happen.
An oil tanker named MV Solar 1, contracted by the Saudi Aramco owned oil company Petron, was traversing the straight near Guimaras island when it capsized due to rough weather and is now spilling over half a million barrels of industrial oil.
The tanker is now submerged under 900 meters of water and is still leaking, already causing damage to 19.5 nautical miles of pristine mangrove coast of Guimaras, a breeding ground to over 100 species of fish in an area where fishing is the main source of income to over a million residents living in the coastlines.
The oil slick is being trashed by rough waters and aerial inspection reveals that it is about to reach neighboring islands as well as the famed beach resort and premier tourist destination of the Philippines, the island of Boracay.
The long term ecological damage of the oil slick is still undetermined and as of this time, the Philippine government is scurrying about to prevent the oil slick from causing further damage.
Over 1,110 hectares of mangrove on Guimaras island is now damaged with an oil slick including 26 hectares of the Taklong Island Marine Reserve and the extent of the damage will continue to spread with the inability of the government to handle such a large accident.
The Philippine Coast Guard has deployed a single scooper vessel to vacuum off the oil slick as efforts to put booms to contain the oil slick has failed due to the weather conditions in the area as affected by an intensified southwest monsoon in the area.
The government has also declared its need for international assistance to prevent the oil from destroying the ecological system in the area, declaring that the damage is so extensive that it can no longer manage this latest crisis alone.
Emergency teams in Malaysia who specialized in ecological accidents like this are being asked to assist while the Defense Department who manages disaster coordination will ask the U.S. government for assistance.
This latest damage is not just a major long-term concern that will severely affect the ecological system of fish-rich waters and to the pristine beach coastlines but it would also affect the livelihood of people in the area who depend on fishing as their only source of income.
This incident is nothing new, it has happened several times on a smaller manageable scale like last year when a similar oil spill accident happened in the same region.
Fortunately the incident was not as extensive as feared and the ecological damage has been controlled.
Again this is another case of learning from one’s mistakes and never doing it again.
Blame Mother Nature for her harshness with regards to the weather conditions that over turned the oil tanker.
Sure, why blame ourselves with our own ineptness and arrogance!
Damage has been done and the damage can not be undone.
Here again is another story of how we never took care of our natural resources and took for granted everything because we never thought first and considered the risks.
What could be more distressing in this case is that we know what damage has been done and we do have our moments of regrets but memories are short and not so sweet, forgetting and doing the same thing all over again.
When will this country ever learn? At this stage, and in this manner, an entire generation is not enough to make the change and for us to remember, never again.
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