In In the year 1999, the Erika Oil Spill in France rocked the whole world. The 25-year old Erika MT tanker broke into two and sank off the Brittany coast of France, leaking almost 14,000 tons of fuel and damaging 400 km. (240 miles) of coastline. The events spurred international in-depth reports, like the BBC documentary that showed a highly accurate portrayal of what was wrong with the international maritime industry.

In the beginning, Total Fina, the French oil company that owned the oil transported by Erika, denied any responsibility for the oil spill. This instigated French public outrage, while three major European countries started a boycott against the company. Suffering from public pressure and the threat of legal action in the French courts, Total Fina eventually admitted responsibility for the environmental disaster.

Many hoped that another Erika would never happen, but on Aug. 11, 2005, a tiny island in the Philippines named Guimaras suffered the same fate. In the role of Total Fina was a Philippine oil company named Petron. Petron is jointly owned by the Philippine government (30 percent), Saudi Aramco (40 percent), and other private stakeholders. More than 1 million liters of bunker fuel leaked from MT Solar I, the tanker hauling the Petron oil, damaging almost 300 km. (180 miles) of coastline and hectares of mangroves, while displacing 26,000 people, most of whom were fishermen who depended upon the sea for livelihood.

To put food on the table, the same fishermen helped in the clean up for P300 (US$6) a day, even while knowing that there were high toxic levels of hydrogen sulfide present, which can cause irreversible brain damage and even death. (Although there is a big difference betweek the exact oil spill leakage, Erika (14,000 tons) and Guimaras (600 tons), the effect on coastal damage is staggering. The Erika oil spill affected almost 400 km of coastline while Guimaras, an astounding 300 kms.)
International media like CNN and BBC only covered the Guimaras incident for several days. The only time it was picked up again by the international media was as a human interest story, when Filipinos started shaving their hair in the hope of using it to absorb the oil. The hair segment veered far away from the real issue and eclipsed the seriousness of the problem. It just confirmed that in the eyes of the international community, Guimaras is an unimportant island, which is exacerbated by the fact that it is in the Philippines, a developing nation

The Erika oil spill occurred in France, a wealthy European nation with world economic influence. France is also a country where freedom of expression is highly observed. It is hardly surprising that the French public could force the French government to take action and Total Fina to pay for the cleanup costs and the pumping of oil from Erika.

But in the Philippines, freedom of expression can kill. The Philippines is one of the countries with the highest number of journalists murdered (either for doing their job or because of illegal activities). With 75 percent of the population under the poverty line and majority already frustrated with “people power” revolutions that failed to bring about social change, democracy in the Philippines hardly exists.

This week, Joe Nichols, the executive of the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund (IOPC ), asked the regional media to stop highlighting negative stories and focus on more positive ones. But shutting up would mean continued injustice.

In the IOPC website, Guimaras was not even listed as a recent major oil spill incident. (correction, it is listed in the ongoing oil spill section but not as a major oil spill) The nonchalance of the IOPC for Guimaras is a complete opposite reaction to the Erika oil spill, where they were forced to increase the oil claims fund to almost 50 percent, giving in to pressure from E.U. courts.
To date, Petron is denying responsibility for the oil spill. They are mirroring what Total Fina did, except this time, Guimaras does not have the international media nor the international community to back it up.

This article also appeared at OhMyNews.com, a citizen news portal.