LU placed under state of calamity due to oil spill

By Teddy Molina and Charlie Lagasca

SAN FERNANDO, La Union – The provincial board of La Union, upon the request of Gov. Manuel Ortega, has approved a resolution placing the province under a state of calamity due to an oil spill even as the waters of Ilocos Sur were contaminated and spread to three more towns in Ilocos Norte.

Latest reports said the oil spill has reached coastal villages in the towns of Currimao, Badoc and Bacarra.

Arthur Valente, fishery coordinator of the provincial agriculture office, said Barangay Saud was hardest hit by the oil spill.

The oil spill was first reported to have affected Paoay town after it struck the Lingayen Gulf in Pangasinan as well as the coastlines of La Union and Ilocos Sur.

Vice Gov. Aureo Nisce told media provincial officials decided to declare a state of calamity to enable officials in affected coastal areas to utilize their calamity funds in the cleanup to prevent further damage to the environment.

“This (oil spill) is an immediate concern of the provincial government,” Nisce said.

Local government units are entitled to use five percent of their internal revenue allotment for calamities.  

Adamor Dagang, provincial information officer, said the declaration does not mean that the oil spill is worsening, but is just a preventive action to fund the coastal cleanup and avoid further damage to the environment. 

Dagang said manual cleanup is being conducted in beaches affected by the spillage which has reached Paoay town. 

He reported that the La Union Hotels, Resorts and Restaurants Association has not cancelled bookings due to the oil spill.

“It’s business as usual for resorts and hotels in the province,” he said.

The Philippine Coast Guard has been coordinating cleanup efforts in the affected areas, while two Coast Guard patrol boats have been monitoring the Lingayen Gulf to determine the extent of the spillage and its path. 

PCG personnel have been deployed since Tuesday to conduct the cleanup. 

Authorities have yet to fully determine if the oil seepage came from the M/V Arita Bauxite, a Myanmar vessel that sank off the coast of Bolinao in Pangasinan last Feb. 17 or from an oil tanker that docked off Bangar, La Union a day after fishermen discovered the spillage.

Sludge samples will be sent to Manila to determine the kind of oil that spilled and trace it to which of the two vessels.

The spillage was first discovered along the shores of this city and in the towns of San Juan, Bacnotan, Luna and Bangar. It later spread to Tagudin, Sta. Cruz, Sta. Lucia, Santiago and San Esteban towns, and Candon City in Ilocos Sur.

Lt. Edison Abanilla, PCG commander in Currimao, said the PCG has so far recovered 250 liters of bunker fuel in Barangay Masinloc in Paoay and 100 liters in Barangay Poblacion in Currimao.

           

Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard if Currimao, IlocosNortewill ask the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council to declare a state of calamity in Ilocos Norte after the oil spill spread to three more towns in the province.

Lt. Edison Abanilla, PCG-Currimao station commander, said at least 1,200 liters of bunker fuel have so far been recovered in the cleanup.

The oil spill has reached coastal villages in the towns of Badoc, Currimao, Paoay and Baccarra.