The tiny island of Guimaras is located in the Panay Gulf between the islands of Panay and Negros in Western Visayas, Philippines. Guimaras holds the crown title for the sweetest mangoes in the world, a produce from the 50,000 mango trees planted around the island. Aside from the agricultural crops, Guimaras is famous for its rich marine biodiversity, fishing grounds, white-sand beaches and dive spots.

On August 11, MT Solar I oil tanker carrying oil from Petron company sank in Guimaras waters spilling 2.19 million litters of oil and affecting as much as:

• 26,000 individuals displaced
• 1,500 hectares of ecosystem
• 209 hectares of mangrove
• 20 hectares of sea grass
• 100 hectares of coral reef within Taklong Marina Reserve
• 58 villages (and threatens 37 more)

Outside the marine reserve

• 171,16 hectars of mangroves
• 42 hectares of seaweed
• 367, 29 hectares of fishpond (Nueva Valencia alone)
• 257.02 hectares of mangroves? and 16 hectares of seaweed (Sibunag Town)
• 10.8 hectares of mangroves (San Lorenzo town)
• 146 km of coastline and 15.8 sq km of coral reefs (Nueva Valencia)
• 74 km coral reefs (Sibunag)

Iloilo

• 10.34 kilometers of coastline in Ajuy
• 4.5 kilometers of coastline in Concepcion

(as of Sept. 22 based on the report of Task Force Solar I oil spill)

According to Greenpeace, the oil tanker is stll leaking 10 liters of oil every hour. The clean-up efforts will be useless unless the remaining oil in the vessel is removed. The Philippine government has decided to siphon the remaining bunker fuel, but the project is scheduled to start within 3-6 months.

The coming of the monsoon season may pose more difficultires in carrying out this task. According to Project Sunrise, the option of pumping out of oil is associated with many risks.