Around 200 families lost their livelihood from three coastal villages after a recent oil spill covered the waters off Southern Leyte. They are from Barangays Benit, Cabutan and Timba in San Ricardo town.
But who is responsible?
The oil slick that spread to the coastal areas of these barangays was believed to have come from either of the two ships that are docked at a private port in Barangay Benit.
Lt. Comdr. Donna Liza Duran, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Southern Leyte station commander, said they have already taken oil samples from the ships LCT Georgia, a cargo vessel, and MV San Ric Ferry 20, an inter-island passenger ship that plies the route between San Ricardo and Surigao City.
As of this writing, no definite source of the oil spill was given.
“During the initial investigation, LCT Georgia-1 Captain Dioel Ganuhay shared [that] they sighted the oil spill 13 minutes after docking at the Port of Benit. They departed from Port of Lipata, Surigao del Norte,” the PCG said in another statement
Contained
The oil spill had allegedly spread about 500 meters from the shore of the village which alarmed the locals who solely rely on fishing for their income.
Duran announced that the authorities were immediately able to contain the spill with the arrival of the PCG ship that brought oil spill booms to prevent the oil slick from spreading.
“There’s no need to panic because the spilled oil was already contained, including those left in the debris and stones at the shoreline,” assured Duran.
Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) recorded a total of 297 families or 1,118 people including 196 families (782 individuals) in Barangay Benit and 101 families (335 individuals) in Barangay Timba were affected.
While cleanup was being done by residents and local authorities, DSWD has stepped up to provide assistance to those affected. Some 300 family food packs (FFPs) were immediately distributed as initial assistance while authorities discouraged the locals from fishing for their own safety.
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