August 11, 2009 marks the 3rd anniversary of the Solar I oil spill that hit the provinces of Iloilo, Negros Occidental and Guimaras. Of the three, Guimaras was the hardest hit. The province marks the day as a day of tragedy by holding a public forum.
This year scientists from three UP campuses, Visayas, Manila and Diliman and DOH medical researchers presented the results of three years of post-spill monitoring. The results are clear. While the acute effects have passed and the resort beaches seem as white as ever, the chronic effects continue and this has started to affect people’s health. Dr Rene Rollon of UP Diliman presented evidence of mangroves and seagrass dying or no recovering. Dr Lem Aragones presented evidence of overfishing aggravated by the oil spill. While 10 years ago, fishers caught 6 kg per trip, now they catch less than 2 kg. Dr Rodel Subade of UP Visayas presented a mixed picture of the island’s economy where tourism seems to be the bright edge. In ecotoxicology, Dr Flerida Carino and Anna Rivera presented evidence that mollusks consumed by people ingested toxins from residual oil. Dr Toti Moya described the water crisis facing the island province. Dr Ando Siringan described shore erosion and I described the large scale ecological effects of the spill on shore ecosystems.
The health aspects received the most attention among the people. Dr Lynn Panganiban of UP-PGH presented evidence of abnormal blood chemistry in people living in the worst affected areas. The presence of high levels of blood sulfur may suggest chronic exposure to oil fractions. The physician fears that the worst effects of the spill on human health is just 10 years away when people start manifesting cancers.
The troubling results in all scientific disciplines from chemistry,ecology, economics, geology and marine science show that environmental catastrophes have long term effects. While the government may declare the problem has been solved, this is hardly the case. Damage payoffs may answer immediate needs but the money cannot be expected to last forever. The Congress passed a bill appropriating more than 200 million pesos for meeting immediate rehabilitation needs. But Congress isn’t likely to fund for 20 years. This leaves Guimaras holding the short end of the stick. Guimaras Governor Felipe Nava realizes this and says his constituents should be able to do the rehabilitation on what their revenue can.
To his credit, Governor Nava realizes the importance of scientist input on local government policy and programs. Guimaras may be the only province in the country whose environmental plans are not just driven by political considerations but by good scientific data.
One thing is sure, a chronically stressed Guimaras is something Imperial Manila doesn’t want to hear not after DENR has given the all OK! And this may be a liability for anyone wanting to run in 2010!
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Well said, what else can anyone add?
Surely, we don’t get to read anything like this everyday so spot on blackshama!
Nice piece, however very patronizing of UP.
UP is the only university to respond for the call for help. As the national university, it has the moral obligation to do so.
Any oil spill will take many years for the environment to recover.
i have a question. how do we know the effects are due to the oil spill?
perhaps the place is being affected by other forces that limit fish yield, introduce metals in the sea life, etc…
That’s why 3 years isn’t enough to really find out if that’s the cause.