Rehabilitation
P800M for Guimaras rehab held back
ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Officials of Guimaras Island are calling on President Macapagal-Arroyo to intervene in the release of the P800-million fund intended for rehabilitation and livelihood programs for areas and residents that suffered from the Petron oil spill.
Guimaras Gov. JC Rahman Nava said none of the proposed programs and projects has been implemented, six months after the spill hit the island, because the funds have not been released.
The funds, contained in the supplemental budget passed last year by Congress, was intended to finance the rehabilitation of damaged marine resources and for livelihood projects for residents who were displaced by the oil spill.
The fund would also finance long-term research and monitoring of the impact of oil spills on the environment and human health.
The President had promised to support the restoration efforts last year, shortly after she declared a national calamity after the MT Solar I, which was carrying over 2 million liters of bunker fuel for Petron Corp. from Bataan to Zamboanga, sank in stormy seas off Guimaras on Aug. 11.
The oil spill has brought suffering to 5,437 families.
It damaged Guimaras’ rich marine life and turned off tourists.
Slicing the pie
Nava said the fund would be distributed to agencies and the local government, which would implement the projects. These include P130 million for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, P100 million for the Department of Agriculture, P250 million for the Department of Social Welfare and Development and P210 million for the local government units.
Part of the fund would also go to the University of the Philippines in the Visayas, which is spearheading the research conducted by the scientific community on the impact of the oil spill.
Rafael Coscolluela, Presidential adviser for Western Visayas and head of the regional task force Solar I, said the agencies and the provincial government have already completed and submitted the necessary documents, including the finalization of the implementing rules and regulations.
“We are just awaiting the approval of the Department of Budget and Management,” said Coscolluela.
Mayor Diosdado Gonzaga of Nueva Valencia, the worst hit of the five towns of Guimaras, called on the President to intervene to hasten the release of the funds.
Dying mangroves
“It is quite lamentable to note that many representatives of government agencies, nongovernment organizations and, even, the private sector have come to offer their expertise to clean the mangrove areas but until now nothing has been done,” said Gonzaga in a letter to the President dated Feb. 1.
Gonzaga said that Petron Corp. terminated its cleanup activities in coastal areas and declared the coastlines of Nueva Valencia as clean, but mangroves, including the fully grown ones, continue to die.
“If no immediate solution is applied to arrest this alarming situation, I believe, sooner or later, there will be an environmental disaster covering the mangrove areas in this municipality,” said Gonzaga.
Gonzaga also lamented the lack of “proper identification” of livelihood projects. (