The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has said that siphoning oil from the sunken motor tanker (MT) Terra Nova off the coast of Limay, Bataan, will take more than a week.
After sealing the 14 valves of the submerged tanker successfully, authorities are now preparing to siphon the oil from the tanker.
According to PCG, the salvage operation for the tanker will begin once the extraction of 300,000 liters of industrial fuel oil is completed.
"That is 50,000 to 60,000 [extraction rate] per day, that would be a total of five to seven days po. ['Yun] yung sinabi po ni Gov kanina, up to 10 days po ung at most. 'Yun po yung nakikita nating siphoning timeline," Lieutenant Commander Michael John Encina, spokesperson for PCG NCR-Central Luzon, said.
The PCG conducted an aerial survey along with experts from the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited.
They detected oil sheens on the sea surface, two to four miles off the coast of Hagonoy, Bulacan.
The public should not be alarmed as the extent of the oil spill has decreased and the oil sheen has thinned, according to expert calculations, assuming favorable weather conditions persist.
"So far, po, wala pa pong reported oil spill na nakaabot na po sa shoreline ng Bataan... dahil light lang po siya, pwede po natin ispreyan ng dispersal, or naturally po pwede po siyang mag-evaporate," Encina said.
In Pampanga, a major fish distributor in the country, the province could face losses of around ₱45 million per month if the oil reaches the coastal areas of Lubao, Sasmuan, and Macabebe.
As a precaution, local government units are preparing localized oil booms.
"I gave instructions na din po to all the mayors of Pampanga, yung mga pinaggamitan ng buko right now ihold na lahat sa public market huwag namunang ilabas at itapon, [dahil] yun po magiging raw materials namin," Governor Dennis Pineda of Pampanga said.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) continues to monitor catch landings and conduct sensory analysis on fish samples from the waters of Bataan.
