Article 3:

Guimaras declares state of calamity over worst oil spill

Philippine Daily Inquirer/ August 15, 2006

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Grave concern has started to rise concerning a giant tanker that managed to spill two million liters of oil into the sea near Guimaras Island.  

Undeniably a disaster that was waiting to be rendered, the Philippine coastguards sensed the urgency to promote this issue to the public.

Innocent sea creatures are suffering due to the harmful oil that is swathing their habitat.   

Many marine reserves have been polluted in the Philippines over the years and Guimaras Island is merely one of these places.  

Affected areas by the oil spill consist of fishing grounds and diving spots, harming the Philippines’ environmental and tourism factors.

Rainstorms were the cause of this problem for they made the tanker sink and eventually leading to the oil spill.

Appeals for help have been sent to Japan and Indonesia in order to request their assistance in clearing out the oil. 

Sadly, the oil is beginning to spread at a rate too rapid for the coastguards and environmentalists to clean it efficiently.

It is believed that the oil will take three years to be taken out of the water.

Sources said that two members of the crew is missing at sea due to the sinking of the tanker. 

Lack of competent equipment is a major obstacle for the goal of getting rid of the oil and stopping the spill.

A submerged tank is still lying on the floor of the ocean, waiting to be found.

Numerous amounts of cash are what the Philippine government needs to get a hold of so that they can fix the destruction created by the oil spill.

Definite results have been recognized over the past years as the damages are slowly beginning to be repaired.

Personal Response

      This oil spill, which occurred near the Guimaras Island, can only be defined in one word and that is miserable. I feel sadness and distress that this incident had to happen. There are various reasons why I feel this way. The event is overflowing with grief because some of the crew members are still missing, the oil has murdered a majority of the marine life, and the Philippines cannot even afford to completely clean up the leak. Having crew members being lost at sea is devastating for family and friends because they do not know if they will ever see them again. I shudder to think how despondent it was like for a relative to see their loved one this morning and then finding out later that they might never see them again. Along with humans being lost at sea, the oil spill damaged and killed several parts of the ocean life. Since this occurrence, the fishing grounds, diving spots, and the national marine reserve have been closed to the public. In addition, countless of sea creatures have died because of the dispersal of the oil that is not a natural part of their habitat. It is very depressing to realize that the small amount of the beautiful nature Philippines has left are dying due to a man-made cause. To make this issue even more unfortunate is the fact that the Philippines, being a third world country, does not have the financial support to fully clean up all the oil from the sea. I sense a terrible urgency about this because if the oil is not being efficiently disposed of, then it will just keep spreading. The chilling result will then be that the sea critters living near Guimaras Island will continue to suffer and slowly die. Just like Philippines’ deforestation problem, the oil spill in the Guimaras Island just goes to show how incapable the Philippines is at protecting its environment. This is why this issue is upsetting; humans are missing, floras and faunas are dying, and the Philippines is not competent enough to entirely clean up the mess.

Questions

1. How do you feel knowing that countless marine animals died by a cause that could have been avoided?

2. If you are given a chance to go back in time, what would you do to prevent this oil spill from happening?

3. How can this accident affect your daily life together with the rest of the population’s lives in direct and/or indirect ways?