SBMA, Subic firms assist with Bataan spill cleanup

Subic Bay Freeport – The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and the Subic Freeport community have recently mobilized to help contain the oil spill in Bataan.

According to SBMA Chairman and Administrator Eduardo Jose L. Aliño, the SBMA lent its 160-meter spill boom last Friday to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to assist in containing the oil spill from the MT Terranova, which sank off the waters of Limay town on Thursday.

He said that the SBMA is willing to provide any assistance to the PCG by lending equipment from the agency’s Seaport Department. The SBMA helped the PCG by providing the needed equipment at the Subic Bay Yacht Club (SBYC).

“We hope that they would also use it not just for the MT Terra Nova incident, but also to the MTKR Jason Bradley that sank on the coastal waters of Mariveles,” he added.

The SBMA conducted an emergency meeting through Senior Deputy Administrator for Operations Ronnie Yambao last week to discuss the deployment of the oil spill boom using the PCG’s BRP Suluan.

Meanwhile, two towage companies were tapped to assist in containing the oil spill from MT Terra Nova using their expertise, equipment, and tugboats. Yambao identified the companies as Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc. and Malayan Towage and Salvage Corp.

“The two companies have requested to the Operations Branch of the Seaport Department to exit the Port of Subic to respond to the oil spill in Limay,” he added.

Recently, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) held a joint meeting between the national and regional disaster risk reduction committees to address the Bataan oil spill incident.

DILG Secretary Atty. Benjamin C. Abalos Jr. led the meeting along with the National and Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils. Bataan Governor Joet Garcia, Pampanga Governor Dennis Pineda, and other government agencies were also present to discuss possible actions to avert a massive oil spill in the region.