MANILA, Philippines — Parts of Cavite have declared a state of calamity due to the oil spill, Cavite Gov. Jonvic Remulla said on Wednesday.
The MT Terra Nova sank off the coast of Bataan on July 25, carrying 1.4 million liters of oil. While the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said that the government is working to siphon out the oil cargo, there are reports that the oil has already reached Cavite and Bulacan.
“Affected are the municipalities of Bacoor, Kawit, Noveleta, Rosario, Tanza, Naic, Maragondon and Ternate. As of today, the province is declaring a state of calamity in these areas,” Remulla said in an X post.
Remulla posted a video with shellfish catch coated with what seems to be oil.
The Cavite governor also said that the province is a no-catch zone for mussels, crabs and clams within the vicinity.
“The Cavite Government is currently meeting for the immediate distribution of relief goods for the 25,000 affected fisherfolks in Cavite,” Remulla said.
As of writing, reporters are still confirming with the PCG if the oil spill that reached Cavite came from the MT Terra Nova.
When asked by reporters for a reaction on this, the PCG on Wednesday said that Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gavan was en route to conduct an aerial survey in the vicinity waters of Bataan and Manila Bay.
According to the PCG’s latest update, contracted salvor Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc. is conducting diving operations to seal 24 of MT Terra Nova’s leaking valves. The University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UP-MSI) is also conducting water sampling in Pasay, Cavite, Bulacan and Bataan to check the properties of the water.
In a media briefing on Monday, the PCG said that they investigated areas where oil sheens were reported, but found little to no traces.
“There were some posts in the past days na hindi talaga namin mahanap 'yung mga post nila. We did aerial and surface search, wala kaming makitang ganoon. I'm not saying it is fake,” Gavan said previously.
(There were some posts in the past days that we could not find what they posted. We did aerial and surface search, we did not find anything there. I'm not saying it is fake.)
The UP-MSI on Monday had forecast that the oil would reach Metro Manila by July 30. On the same day, Greenpeace Philippines showed photos of oil in the waters of Manila Bay. The environmental organization also showed photos of oil sheens in the waters of Bulacan, saying that it came from the MT Terra Nova.
Fisherfolk group Pamalakaya also reported oil on the shores of Tanza, Cavite, saying that the livelihood of around 29,000 fisherfolk were at risk. The group provided the following breakdown of fisherfolk affected per town:
Out of the following listed by PAMALAKAYA, Noveleta, Rosario, Tanza, Maragondon and Ternate are now under a state of calamity.
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