The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday said an insurance firm pledged to retrieve the remaining industrial fuel oil in the MT Princess Empress, which sank off the cost of Oriental Mindoro on Feb. 28.
Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez said Valeriano Del Rosario and May Valles, representatives of Shipowners’ Protection and Indemnity Club (P&I), gave the commitment during the insurance firm’s first appearance in the inter-agency dialogue on the oil spill held last week.
“There is a big breakthrough. The P&I committed to do the retrieval operations, and the possibility of raising the vessel itself. But it’s up to their technical assessment whether that would be considered,” Vasquez said.
Vasquez said the pledge of commitment by P&I was timely since the United States and Japanese coast guards that brought their own remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) have already left the site where MT Princess Empress sank.
“We gave them (P&I) 10 days to give us the report and for them to tell us how soon they will do that,” he said.
It was estimated that the vessel still contains about 300,000 liters of industrial fuel oil from the 900,000 liters it initially carried when it sank on Feb. 28.
Vasquez said that International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC) Director Gaute Sivertsten also attended the dialogue for the first time.
“The fact that the IOPC visited us showed their commitment to settle all claims because the IOPC is the one that handled the funds,” he said.
Meanwhile, Vasquez said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has “more or less completed the fact-finding data.”
“Under the case buildup rule that we have now under the DOJ, the findings will now have to be assessed by the National Prosecution Service before we would even initiate a case whether criminal, civil or administrative against anyone,” he said.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has been working closely with the DOJ in its case build-up against those responsible for the Mindoro oil spill.
DENR Undersecretary Jonas Leones said possible violations against environmental laws, especially the Philippine Clean Water Act, will be added to the overall assessment of the potential damage, which will be determined by the DOJ.
“The DOJ findings will also include the compensation due to affected fishermen,” Leones said in a statement.
Leones said the DENR will continue to monitor water quality in affected areas, assess the environmental impact, and provide the necessary technical assistance in addressing the oil spill.
Just recently, the DENR and the Department of Health issued a joint statement announcing the results of the latest water quality tests conducted in Puerto Galera, a popular beach destination and diving site in Oriental Mindoro.
The results released last April 14 showed that only nine of 35 sampling stations have met the criteria for water quality guidelines on “oil and grease” contaminants.
There used to be only six sampling stations in Puerto Galera, but the DENR put up another 29 in the wake of the oil spill to provide more accurate results that could be used as basis for measures to reduce or prevent hazards to human and environmental health.