Task Force Sunrise

On 11 August 2006, the tanker M/T Solar 1, with a cargo of two million liters of bunker fuel, sank approximately 10 miles from the coastal village of San Roque in Nueva Valencia town in Guimaras while battling rough waters.

The southern coast of Guimaras became a cesspool, rendering marine products unsafe for eating and ending the livelihood of thousands of fisherfolks. The beaches were stained with thick, black oil that spelled the demise of the island’s tourism industry. Marine reserves and reef areas vanished in a snap, endangering the food security not only of the present but also of the future generation.

On 14 August 2006, Guimaras Gov. Rahman JC Nava created “Task Force Sunrise” as a quick response effort to the environmental and socio-economic disaster that hit the province. Its primary mandate is to coordinate efforts in information dissemination; assessment and evaluation; welfare and rehabilitation; transportation, rescue and engineering; relief services, evacuation and medical services; and legal services.

Nava also instituted Project Sunrise to improve relief works by bringing together the resources, information, human resources and technology to be used in the relief operations in a transparent and accountable manner. The project includes sourcing relief and rehabilitation assistance from individuals, corporations and international agencies.

Guimaras, a small province with limited resources, obviously could not do it alone, particularly the task of cushioning the impact of the oil spill. It does not have the capability of removing the source of the slick that lies 600 meters below the water surface, of feeding thousands of displaced families, and of rehabilitating its tourism and fishery industries.

Project Sunrise created this website to bring together compassionate and thoughtful citizens and organizations of the world and take common heroic responses to human sufferings caused by this disaster. It seeks to pool in funds, technical expertise and talents needed in mitigating the risks brought by this disaster.