84% of coastline affected by massive oil slick cleaned up

Authorities have cleaned up 84.26 percent of coastline affected by the oil slick in the past two months, with the national government now focusing on programs and strategies to address the impact of the tragedy.

In a statement, the National Task Force on Oil Spill Management said one of the strategies being pursued is to assist all the affected families, particularly fishing communities in Oriental Mindoro and nearby areas.

Initially, it reported that a total of ₱430-million worth of assistance have already been downloaded through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) via the distribution of family food packs and nonfood items, as well as other programs that include Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS), Emergency Cash Transfer (ECT), and Cash for Work (CFW).

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), on the other hand, reported that a total of ₱517-million worth of early recovery assistance was distributed to 96,256 beneficiaries in Regions 4-A (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon area), 4-B (Mindoro Oriental and Occidental, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan area), and Region 6 or Western Visayas.

As of May 11, the National Task Force on Oil Spill Management said the oil slick has affected a total of 40,733 families in the three regions.

The oil slick started when an oil tanker loaded with more than 800,000 liters of industrial oil sank off the waters of Naujan town in Oriental Mindoro on Feb. 28.

Cleared

The task force also revealed that 15.74 percent of coastline affected by the oil slick have yet to be cleaned by the Philippine Coast Guard.

“The Philippine Coast Guard reported that as of May 10, the estimated total length of coastline ‘acceptably’ cleaned is now at 84.26 percent with the remaining length of affected coastline at 15.74 percent,” the task force said.