Estrada: LGUs affected by oil spill must compel MT Princess Empress owner to pay for damages

Local government units that are affected by the massive oil spill from MT Princess Empress must compel the shipowner to pay for the damages to their communities, Senator Jinggoy Estrada said.

“Kailangan siguro nating singilin o habulin yung may ari ng barko. Marami raw mga ‘di kumpletong dokumento… Maybe, the local government unit of Oriental Mindoro, ‘yung mga nabiktima na local government units kailangan siguro sulatan to compel them to pay for the damages that have been done,” Estrada said in an online interview.

(Maybe we need to ask the owner of the ship to pay. It was reported that there were missing documents for its operation. Maybe, the local government unit of Oriental Mindoro, the other local government that are victims of this oil spill should write to compel the owners to pay for the damages that have been done.)

Estrada sits as member of both the Senate environment committee and the local government panel. 

At a Senate hearing last Tuesday, Oriental Mindoro Governor Humerlito Dolor disclosed that there was no direct assistance to affected residents from RDC Reield Marine Services—the company who owns the sunken MT Princess Empress.

It was also disclosed during the hearing that Pola, Oriental Mindoro Mayor Jennifer Cruz refused to get help from the company because of the latter’s delayed response to their queries regarding the assistance to affected residents.

Meanwhile, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian expressed concern over a possible fish shortage and livelihood loss of Oriental Mindoro residents amid the oil spill.

In a statement, Gatchalian said fish production is expected to decline as the oil spill in Mindoro has already reached Antique, Palawan and could possibly reach Romblon and Aklan which are also known for their tourism.

“It would take us some time to recover from the horrendous impact of this incident, not only on the environment and the livelihood of our people including those in the tourism industry, and thus, we should extend whatever assistance we can give to help alleviate the plight of those affected by the oil spill,” Gatchalian said.

The senator is scheduled to visit several municipalities in Oriental Mindoro to extend aid in the province on Friday. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News