Environmental group Greenpeace on Tuesday urged the government to demand full responsibility and accountability from those involved in the Mindoro oil spill.
Unless the government demands full responsibility from those involved in the oil spill, companies will get away scot-free and avoid their environmental and social accountability for cleanup and economic damages caused by the disaster, Greenpeace Philippines warned. Greenpeace noted that while the owner of the tanker, RDC Reield Marine Services, has apologized for its role in the spill, the owner of the oil cargo is yet to be named, although media reports identified SL Harbor Bulk Terminal Corp., reportedly a subsidiary of San Miguel Shipping and Lighterage Corporation, a company under conglomerate San Miguel Corporation, allegedly chartered the vessel.
“There is also a glaring lack of official information on what facility the cargo came from and where it’s headed, and what it is exactly that’s leaking out of the sunken ship,” he added. “These are vital pieces of information that can aid in developing policies for the avoidance of such accidents in the future.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources continues to rally communities to create oil spill booms made of organic materials to save marine ecosystems threatened by the oil slick. The DENR-Environmental Management Bureau Mimaropa, together with the PCG and LGUs, has installed provisional spill booms made of cogon and sawali in Casiligan River and Calimawawa River in Oriental Mindoro province to prevent the oil spill from reaching the mangrove forests, coral reefs, and other marine life.