The CBNRM Learning Center has launched a special website on the CBCRM community’s actions for Guimaras. Guimaras response provides online resources about the Petron/Solar 1 oil spill off the coast of Guimaras island in the Philippines.

It is also? online hub for CBCRM practitioners who are currently helping in Guimaras and provide information towards long-term rehabilitation of the affected communities. Check the site at: www.cbcrmlearning.org/petron_oilspill/index.htm To view the joint statement of CBNRM and the NGOs for Fishermen reform, please click here. (We are also publishing it below)

THE JOINT STATEMENT:

Hold Petron and Sunshine Maritime accountable for the oil spill.
Hold government equally accountable for failure to perform its
regulatory role.

September 22, 2006
Quezon City

The Petron/Solar 1 oil spill along the coastlines of Guimaras is the result of the failure of corporations to concretize their social responsibility and government’s failure to fulfill its regulatory role. The oil spill should be properly called the “Petron/Solar 1 Oil Spill” to establish proper accountability. It has been 41 days since the oil spill. The Northeast monsoon (Amihan) will soon commence and the oil spill may spread further to the south of Guimaras and west of Guimaras Strait affecting other coastal areas.

We demand that Petron/Sunshine Maritime remove the remaining oil in the sunken vessel as soon as possible. Current efforts at cleaning up the oil spill on the beach provide merely cosmetic relief since the oil spill which hit Guimaras is only 1/10th of the Solar’s total cargo; the bulk of the 2 million liters of bunker fuel is still leaking from the sunken tanker at a reported 120 liters a day. Unless the remaining oil in the tanker is removed or siphoned, clean-up activities will only expose villagers to health hazards. Petron and Sunshine Maritime must exhaust all resources at their disposal to expedite the process.
Moreover, the International Pollution Control Fund is already conducting community workshops aimed at facilitating the claims-making process for the victims of the incident. Such information awareness is definitely needed by the communities but until such time that a comprehensive assessment of damages is concluded, such efforts are premature.
The coastal communities need to be sufficiently informed of the proper value of the damage, the clean-up and rehabilitation and of their rights.
The government and its agencies responsible for regulating the shipping industry should likewise be accountable for the Petron/Solar oil spill. By giving the MV Solar 1 clearance to sail, despite clear violations of conduct, government agencies tasked with regulating shipping activities have clearly failed to fulfill their responsibility.
We thus call on Petron and Sunshine Maritime to:
Expedite the removal of the MV Solar I from the sea or the siphoning of the remaining cargo;
Cease the workshops on indemnification and recognize the role of local government units and civil society to lead such processes;
Indemnify the people of Guimaras for the long-term ecological damage, the loss of livelihood opportunities and the immediate and long-term effects on public health; and
Uphold corporate social responsibility by adhering to the highest safety standards and ethical practice in their operations.
We likewise call on the government to:
Ensure that transparent and impartial mechanisms are in place to fairly valuate damages and formulate and implement of long-term rehabilitation plans by actively involving local governments of Guimaras, affected communities and civil society;
Expedite and ensure transparent and impartial investigations as to the liability of all parties concerned including the Marina and the Philippine Coast Guard; and
Review laws and policies on the handling and transport of hazardous cargo, formulate and enact appropriate measures to mitigate such disasters in the future.
Community-Based Coastal Resource Management Resource Center
13 A Maaralin Street
Central District, Quezon City
Telefax: 9203368
Contact Person:
Leonard G. Reyes
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: 09063129789
NGOs for Fisheries Reform
59 C Salvador Street
Varsity Hills, Loyola Heights
Quezon City9270122
Contact Person:
Stanley Yu
9270122