Gov’t P36B short of spill damage
CEED said the report, released two days before the first anniversary of the oil spill, estimated the damage to the environment at around P40.1 billion, while socio-economic losses amounted to P1.1 billion
Daily TribuneCEED said the report, released two days before the first anniversary of the oil spill, estimated the damage to the environment at around P40.1 billion, while socio-economic losses amounted to P1.1 billion
The government had largely understated its estimate of the amount of damage caused by the 28 February 2023 oil spill in Mindoro, according to a study made by a local think tank, the Center for Energy, Ecology and Development, or CEED.
The study found that the oil spill caused at least P41.2 billion worth of damages to the environment and the livelihoods of affected fisherfolk, which is 800 percent higher than the estimated total damages by the government of P5.1 billion.
The state data would be the basis for compensation claims from the owner of the oil tanker MT Princess Empress that sank in the waters off the coast of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.
The tanker was carrying around 900,000 liters of industrial oil, thus causing a spill that eventually reached the coastal municipalities of Oriental Mindoro, Batangas, Antique and Palawan.
CEED said the report, released two days before the oil spill’s first anniversary, estimated the environmental damage to be around P40.1 billion. At the same time, socio-economic losses amounted to P1.1 billion.
While the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, or NDRRMC, and the Department of Agriculture, or DA, estimated fishing income lost from the oil spill, CEED said it provided an alternative estimate.
CEED said the estimate was based partly on interviews with nine Naujan fishermen directly impacted by the oil spill.
Though the respondents’ situations vary, a snowball sampling and saturation methodology developed by Agaton et al. 2023 was used. The method posits that data collection ceases once the numbers from succeeding fishers have no significant difference.
CEED’s report estimated the damages from the oil spill by assessing fisherfolk’s livelihood losses.
It identified lost income from an existing study of Naujan fishers affected by the oil spill to extrapolate the lost revenue from other affected municipalities, including Pola, Pinamalayan and Calapan.
To come up with an estimate of the environmental damages, the report pegged the oil spill cost in Oriental Mindoro at P40.1 billion, which is also the price for its restoration.
The NDRRMC situational report, on the other hand, estimated that environmental damage, based on the production loss of fish sanctuary, only stood at P3.5 billion.
The methodology implemented utilized “willingness to pay,” or WTP, for the restoration of fish communities.
The WTP method puts a value on the fish communities, showing another level of damage caused by the oil spill apart from the loss of livelihoods.
Catastrophic
While the fishing ban in the municipalities of Oriental Mindoro was completely lifted by July, yield still has not returned to the level before the spill, as they only get around a third of their normal catch.
“Given this, we assumed that fishers continue to suffer income loss from July to November,” the study indicated.
“In terms of damages to the affected fisherfolk communities, we estimated that Naujan, Pola, Pinamalayan and Calapan lost P1.1 billion in the 39 weeks since the oil spill,” according to the report.
“The P41.2 billion figure is the approximation of the incalculable human and ecological costs of this tragedy, costs that will continue as we can no longer restore what has been lost,” CEED executive director Gerry Arances said.
The report’s findings are 800 percent more than government figures, as official assessments failed to include significant implications for affected communities and ecosystems.
“The government has yet to produce a comprehensive study detailing the full extent of the impact of the oil spill on the environment and livelihood. The delay not only undermines transparency and accountability but also hampers efforts to address the immediate and long-term needs of affected populations. In the absence of timely and accurate data, the VIP remains a silent victim without any protection afforded to it,” Arances said.