Where’s responsibility?

In a mad dash for profit, corporate giants have shoved concern for the public welfare to the wayside, which is how environmental groups describe the two recent huge oil spills that have the imprint of a local business giant that supposedly values relationships.

The Philippine Coast Guard has confirmed that the charterer of the MT Terra Nova, which sank off Bataan was the same company that owned the oil that leaked from the MT Princess Empress in February last year, which affected the marine life and communities in Antique, Batangas, Oriental Mindoro and Palawan.

The Mindoro spill involved 900,000 metric tons of industrial fuel oil. Now, with the Terra Nova some 1.4-million metric tons of oil is threatening Manila Bay and is expected to affect more people.

According to the Center for Energy, Ecology and Development (CEED), which is a coalition of environmental warriors, the corporate giant is leaving Filipinos a legacy of harm.

“It has yet to be held accountable for the devastation it wrought on tens of thousands of fisherfolk in the Verde Island Passage, and now it is wreaking havoc on communities in Bataan, Manila Bay, and beyond,” the group said.

In the Mindoro spill, the Asian conglomerate evaded culpability when the blame was pinned entirely on the owner of the vessel, but the green groups demanded that the firm be held accountable for not ensuring the stability of the tanker.

The government, particularly maritime regulators, should not allow another coverup but should demand urgent action from those responsible for the oil spill that is threatening the main body of water of Metro Manila and its suburbs.

“We also ask for an urgent investigation and justice for the affected communities and our marine environment,” CEED said.

However, if the probe goes the way of the congressional investigation into the Mindoro oil spill, the corporate giant will be shielded once again as legislators then avoided even the mention of its name during the proceedings.

The Terra Nova sank in rough seas caused by the onslaught of super typhoon Carina which enhanced the southwest monsoon or habagat.

The ecology groups recalled that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. showcased the administration’s climate agenda, including its adaptation and disaster response, in his recent State of the Nation Address.

Still recovering from last year’s oil spill and the harsh heat of El Niño, provinces around the Verde Island Passage, along with Metro Manila and many other areas in the country, are now under a state of calamity due to typhoon Carina, according to the group.

Another environmental disaster looms for the already suffering Filipinos particularly fishermen,” Fr. Edwin Gariguez, lead convenor of the Protect Verde Island Passage (Protect VIP) network, said.

The government must exact accountability from the parties responsible to uphold its commitment to environmental protection, according to the group.

The Princess Empress tragedy resulted in estimated damages of P41.2 billion. The Terra Nova incident is feared to cost more as it may be the biggest environmental catastrophe yet in Philippine history.

“This is already the second massive oil spill under President Marcos’s term and lessons should have already been learned.” Gariguez said.

“We should not let this be another case where the polluters escape accountability,” he added.

The coast of Bataan that is expected to suffer a major ecological disaster is also the site of rich biodiversity.

The province has six Marine Protected Areas, including one in Limay. Along with that, the coast of Limay and other parts of Bataan, like Morong and Mariveles, are nesting sites for threatened species of marine turtles.

The groups took the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to task for its silence and timidity during the Mindoro oil spill and urged it not to do the same with this latest spill.

The parties that were responsible for the spill and for allowing a tanker filled with toxic fuel to sail through vicious weather must be made to shoulder the economic dislocation that will be caused to coastal communities and beyond.

A coverup will be truly unacceptable.