MANILA, Philippines — Should the oil spill in Limay, Bataan, fail to siphon off the Manila Bay area, at least 11k farmers are set to lose their jobs, with roughly P83.8 million in monthly income loss for Bataan fishers, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said.
At a press briefing, Neil Kenneth Tibog, BFAR’s division chief of fisheries resource management, said that aside from Bataan, which could displace at least 11,000 farmers and cause P83.8 million in income loss monthly, areas in Bulacan could also make over 8,000 fishermen jobless with P63 million in income loss, and in Pampanga with income loss amounting to P7.6 million.
BFAR has already conducted sensory analysis on the fish in Bataan’s wet markets, assessing whether the fish being sold had any oily smell or taste, he said.
“Fortunately, our sensory analysis showed that the fish samples collected from the markets in Bataan province tested negative,” Tibog said.
As of Monday, the Philippine Coast Guard has yet to contain the spread of oil from the sunken tanker in Bataan, affecting other areas including Hagonoy, Bulacan, which have already observed a thick layer of oil across the water surface approximately 4 kilometers from the coastline, according to Greenpeace Philippines.
PCG said in its latest report that authorities have already sealed the 14 valves that have leaked over the weekend and are planning to continue the salvage operations to siphon off the oil inside the MT Terra Nova.
The recovery operations might take up to seven days, according to PCG, provided that there were no bad weather conditions or other factors on the scene that could affect the operations.
On Thursday last week, the MT Terra Nova sank off the coast of Lamao Point, Limay, Bataan, due to severe weather conditions, which killed one crew member of the motor tanker.
