Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 11) – Agricultural losses from the oil spill in Oriental Mindoro reached over ₱4.7 billion, officials said Thursday.
The national task force on the Oriental Mindoro oil spill said the agricultural damage was in Mimaropa and Western Visayas.
Data from the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) show the calamity affected more than 192,500 people in 249 barangays in Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Antique, and Batangas, and disrupted the livelihood of more than 24,500 fisherfolk.
Oriental Mindoro Gov. Bonz Dolor earlier announced that fishing bans were lifted in clusters 4 (Bongabong, Roxas, Mansalay, Bulalacao towns) and 5 (Puerto Galera, Baco, San Teodoro towns).
Waters in clusters 1 (Calapan, Naujan), 2 (Pola), and 3 (Pinamalayan, Gloria, Bansud), including Pola town, are still unsafe for fishing, the task force said.
OCD Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno said an oil siphoning vessel from Singapore is set to arrive in the country in the last week of the month and can operate for 30 days within the affected waters.
Meanwhile, the agency also projected losses of up to ₱886 million in Oriental Mindoro’s tourism industry over a six-month period.
The oil spill affected a total of 55 tourism enterprises, 65 attractions, and 34 marine protected areas, and more than 1,400 tourism workers, the task force said in its report.
The MT Princess Empress, carrying 800,000 liters of industrial oil, sank off the coast of Pola, Oriental Mindoro on Feb. 28.
