Marcos hopes oil spill cleanup in Mindoro won't take months

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Wednesday expressed hope that containing and cleaning the oil spill in Oriental Mindoro province would not last for months.

"Hopefully kung hindi kaya ng one month... hopefully less kasi ang Guimaras na oil spill apat na buwan bago na-cleanup, siguro naman this time, kasi mas bawas nang kaunti ang oil spill ay mas mabibilisan natin, kahit na hindi sa isang buwan, hindi naman siguro natin paabutin ng apat na buwan," Marcos told reporters.

(Hopefully if this can't be done by one month, hopefully less because the oil spill in Guimaras took four months. I think by this time, there's already lesser oil spill so we could rush this. If it would not be finished in a month, let's not make it last up to four months.)

Motor tanker Princess Empress was carrying 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil when it sank due to strong waves on February 28. All the 20 people on board were rescued.

According to the Philippine Coast Guard, the motor tanker sank 400 meters into the ocean, which was too deep for divers to reach.

Citing an expert, Pola town Mayor Jennifer Cruz it would take six months to 1 year to finish the cleanup for the oil spill in the province.

Marcos reiterated that the government had offered a cash-for-work program to help residents recover from the incident.

"Pinalitan natin ng cash for work program dahil sila ngayon ang maglilinis (We implement the cash for work program because they are involved in the cleanup)," Marcos said.

"'Pag natapos na 'yun pwede na sila mangisda ulit, pwede silang bumalik sa trabaho nila (If it's finished, they can go back to fishing or their original jobs)," the President added.—AOL, GMA Integrated News