#ReportersNotebook: “Manila Bay Oil Spill”
Nagdulot ng oil spill ang paglubog ng MTKR Terra Nova at MTKR Jason Bradley sa Bataan na kumalat na sa iba't ibang probinsya kabilang ang Bataan, Bulacan at Cavite. Nakarating din ito sa baybayin ng Maynila. Ang nakababahala, libo-libong mangingisda ang apektado ang kabuhayan.
Sino nga ba ang dapat managot sa nangyayaring oil spill? Ano rin nga ba ang ginagawa ng gobyerno para mapigilan ang patuloy ng pagkalat nito?
Nagdulot ng oil spill ang paglubog ng MTKR Terra Nova at MTKR Jason Bradley sa Bataan na kumalat na sa iba't ibang probinsya kabilang ang Bataan, Bulacan at Cavite. Nakarating din ito sa baybayin ng Maynila. Ang nakababahala, libo-libong mangingisda ang apektado ang kabuhayan.
Sino nga ba ang dapat managot sa nangyayaring oil spill? Ano rin nga ba ang ginagawa ng gobyerno para mapigilan ang patuloy ng pagkalat nito?
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00In the ocean of Manila Bay, fishermen are facing a calamity.
00:08I can't wait to catch a fish. I can't wait to catch a fish.
00:15When you go home, you'll only be left with gasoline.
00:22You won't be able to buy a kilo of rice.
00:25The ocean is flooding due to the next oil tanker crash in Bataan.
00:32And here it is, guys. We have an oil spill.
00:35Is this all we caught?
00:40Wow.
00:42Good thing. What if we caught all the fish we caught?
00:45Then it's all gone.
00:47Residents are also noticing dead fish.
00:50They can see dead fish in their neighborhoods.
00:52But it's hard to say if it's directly related to the oil spill.
01:00What's more worrying is that oil spills have spread to other provinces,
01:05including Bulacan and Cavite.
01:07There's a lot of oil inside.
01:09So if there's a lot of oil inside...
01:11The fish will be gone.
01:13We won't be able to catch fish.
01:15I'm going inside.
01:17We're here at the general location of the ground zero.
01:22This is the place where the oil tanker fell.
01:28Who should be responsible for the oil spill?
01:32When it reaches that level, we don't know what to do.
01:36And what is the government doing to stop the continuous oil spill?
01:41Wow. Look at this plastic. It's full of oil.
01:45It's hard to remove. It's sticky.
01:58In the video caught by fisherman Romar Estrada,
02:02you can see their catfish that turned black after being thrown from the sea.
02:08This is our catfish.
02:10Here.
02:13Wow.
02:15It's a good thing. What if all of our catfish were caught?
02:18Then it's over.
02:20Instead of catching catfish,
02:22they saw a huge amount of oil spilling from the sea
02:25from the motor tanker Terra Nova at 5 o'clock in the morning.
02:30We're in a hurry to catch catfish
02:32so that we won't be able to catch a huge amount of oil spilling from the sea.
02:37We're in a hurry to catch catfish.
02:39If the oil spills from the tanker,
02:42we won't be able to remove the oil from the tanker.
02:45We can't even remove the gasoline from the tanker.
02:47We're in a hurry to catch catfish.
02:49We're in a hurry to catch catfish.
02:52We're in a hurry to catch catfish.
02:54Wow. Look at this.
02:56But not only the catfish caught by Romar Estrada were affected by the oil spill.
03:01What's worse is that their catfish
03:04were almost sold out.
03:05It's really expensive.
03:07The gasoline is expensive.
03:09And we don't want to buy our catfish.
03:13We're forced to sell them at a lower price.
03:17We're hoping to earn more than P3,000.
03:23But that's all we have.
03:25P4,50.
03:27The sea is affected.
03:30People's lives are also affected.
03:33How did the oil spill start?
03:41While the strong winds of Hurricane Karina were being felt
03:45on July 25, 2024,
03:47the motor tanker Terra Nova sank
03:50due to the strong waves.
03:54Its distance is 3.6 nautical miles
03:57from Lamaukot to Limaybataan,
04:00said the Philippine Coast Guard.
04:02The tanker has 1.4 million liters
04:06of industrial fuel
04:08that travels to and from Iloilo.
04:10Sixteen crews were injured
04:13and one crew was killed in the sinking of the tanker.
04:18Other organizations helped
04:20as soon as the oil spill response operations
04:23started in Bataan.
04:26This Monday,
04:28I joined the surface survey
04:30conducted by the Philippine Coast Guard in Bataan.
04:32We are now here at the general location
04:34of the ground zero,
04:36the place where the oil tanker Terra Nova sank.
04:40We did not stop the tanker
04:43until we found out that the oil tanker
04:46sank due to the strong winds of Hurricane Karina.
04:48But even so,
04:50the tanker is still safe.
04:59On July 28,
05:00three days after the sinking
05:02of the motor tanker Terra Nova,
05:04the environmental group
05:06of Greenpeace Philippines
05:08went to Hagonay, Bulacan.
05:10They said that the oil spill
05:12spread to this part of Bulacan.
05:14We had to rely on other sources
05:16to understand the full extent of the oil spill.
05:18So apart from going to Limay,
05:20we also coordinated
05:22with our partner organizations
05:24that are aligned with our calls,
05:26like Oceana.
05:28Based on their map,
05:30the oil spill was going
05:32or headed towards that direction.
05:34In their documented video,
05:36you can see the ocean
05:394 kilometers away
05:41from the barangay
05:43Tibagina in Hagonay.
05:45Slowly,
05:47the ocean shimmers.
05:50And then,
05:52we could see the streaks
05:54and then we could see pieces
05:56of oil.
05:58And then,
06:00the oil turned brown.
06:02You could suddenly feel
06:04the weight of the wind.
06:06You could suddenly smell
06:08the force, the oil.
06:10And we really had to be careful
06:12because it was also our health
06:14that could be affected.
06:16In the drone video,
06:18the oil spill was more visible.
06:20We took that opportunity
06:22to document it
06:24not only with eye-level pictures
06:26and testimonies,
06:28but also drone shots
06:30of its extent.
06:32This Wednesday,
06:34the Reporter's Notebook
06:36went to Hagonay, Bulacan.
06:38In the first Oil Spill Trajectory Model
06:40released by the UP Marine Science Institute,
06:42it was stated that there were
06:44oil slick sightings
06:46in Hagonay, Bulacan
06:48as documented
06:50by Greenpeace Philippines.
06:52We caught a few fish.
06:54I'll try again.
06:57I've been here for 3 hours.
06:58How many fish did you catch?
07:002 kilos.
07:02About 300.
07:04We don't have many fish now.
07:06The fisherman is Mr. Rodolfo.
07:08He hasn't caught any fish for a few days.
07:10There's a lot of fish.
07:12So if there's a lot of fish,
07:14how many fish can we catch?
07:16We can't catch fish.
07:18We'll just wait here.
07:20So now, what you're doing
07:22is you're just trying?
07:24I'm just testing
07:26to see if I can catch fish.
07:28This is Melchor de la Cruz.
07:30This is his last time fishing
07:32since July 26.
07:34But they didn't expect
07:36that in their fishing,
07:38instead of fish,
07:40they caught a lot of fish.
07:42There's a lot of fish.
07:44Around 11 or 12
07:46last night,
07:48we noticed that
07:50while we were fishing,
07:52we noticed small black fish.
07:54We didn't notice them.
07:56We just caught them.
07:58They caught
08:00MTKR Terranova in Bataan.
08:02But they don't know
08:04where the oil spill happened.
08:06This is the coolest item.
08:08I thought it was just dirt
08:10from the sea.
08:12When we were slowly
08:14lifting the net,
08:16that's the size
08:18that came out of my boat.
08:20That's why I did it.
08:22To let others know
08:24so that the people here
08:26in Tibagin will also be aware.
08:28So that they can see it.
08:30The profit from Melchor's last catch
08:33that night
08:35was enough for their gas.
08:37We went home
08:39because the fish
08:41didn't want to rest
08:43because of the oil spill.
08:45If they didn't fish,
08:47Melchor's family
08:49would earn more.
08:51But because there was no catch,
08:53they couldn't catch any fish.
08:55What I saved
08:56for fishing
08:58and other things
09:00is what we use
09:02for expenses.
09:05I help my mother
09:07in her kitchen
09:10so that
09:12we can eat here.
09:15Melchor and his family
09:17are worried
09:19about how they will survive
09:21the next few days.
09:23We don't know
09:24what we will do
09:26here on the island.
09:28Just like now,
09:30my friends
09:32have to disembark
09:34in the sea.
09:36From here in Dalampasigan,
09:38the house of 5 children
09:40is 4 nautical miles away
09:42when the MTKR Terranova
09:44sank.
09:46But a week after the incident,
09:48the siphoning operations
09:50have not yet started
09:51so that the 1.4 million liters
09:53of industrial fuel oil
09:55that was loaded
09:57by the sinking ship
09:59will be able to breathe.
10:04But not only in Bulacan,
10:06the effect of the oil spill
10:08on the MTKR Terranova
10:10was felt.
10:12In the following oil spill
10:14trajectory models
10:16released by UPMSI,
10:18it is estimated that
10:19in coastal areas of Cavite
10:21and Batangas,
10:23even in Metro Manila,
10:25the effect of the oil spill
10:27was felt.
10:29Just this Wednesday,
10:31Cavite declared a state of calamity
10:33after being affected
10:35by the oil spill.
10:37Reporters went to the
10:39Amaya 5 barangay
10:41in Tansa, Cavite.
10:43The resident,
10:45Maribic Gomez,
10:46was also affected
10:48by the oil spill.
10:50When they went to Maribic,
10:52the coastal area,
10:54they were struck by black
10:56and black garbage.
10:58In the video and photos
11:00taken by the group,
11:02you can see
11:04water lilies,
11:06garbage,
11:08garbage cans,
11:10and clothes
11:12covered in oil.
11:14The other clothes
11:16were covered in mud.
11:18The other garbage
11:20that Maribic collected
11:22amounted to 40 bags.
11:24Because if the same garbage
11:26is collected again,
11:28it will affect the fish
11:30especially us.
11:35Maribic and Romulo
11:37are fishing.
11:39They barely earn
11:41because of the effect
11:43of the oil spill.
11:44They don't eat fish
11:46or crabs.
11:48They only eat
11:50the fish
11:52that our husband caught.
11:54This is what
11:56Lester Jonas
11:58has been going through
12:00for two decades.
12:02We were able to catch
12:04less fish
12:06and it was cheap.
12:08We went out
12:10and fished.
12:12We didn't notice
12:14the last spread
12:16of Lester's group.
12:19But instead
12:21of selling 14 kilos of fish
12:23for 2,500 pesos,
12:25he bought it
12:27for 500 pesos.
12:29Why did he buy fish
12:31from me?
12:33What I was told
12:35when I sold it to him
12:37was not to catch fish first
12:39but to catch fish.
12:41It reached here.
12:42In Ternate, Cavite,
12:44a group of young people
12:46also helped
12:48to clean the trash
12:50in their coastal area.
12:52That's a plastic bottle.
12:54It's thick.
12:56It has a big effect.
12:58Look at this plastic.
13:00It's full of oil.
13:02It's hard to remove.
13:07In the Oil Spill Trajectory Model
13:09of UPMSI July 29, 2024,
13:10the oil spill reached
13:12the coastal areas
13:14of Cavite.
13:16The next day, July 30,
13:18the oil spill reached
13:20Metro Manila.
13:22In the drone footage
13:24of Greenpeace Philippines,
13:26the oil was seen
13:28spreading in Manila Bay.
13:30As of now,
13:32according to the Philippine Coast Guard
13:34or PCG,
13:36only one liter of oil
13:37reached MTKR Terranova
13:39from 2 gallons per minute
13:41in the first few days.
13:43In this underwater footage,
13:45divers were careful
13:47as the oil tanker sank.
13:49When the valve reached the ship,
13:51they one by one
13:53sealed it.
13:55The next week,
13:57PCG's target was the siphoning
13:59from the tanker.
14:01But the oil spill
14:03from MTKR Terranova
14:05was not yet solved.
14:07This is what happened.
14:09Not far from here,
14:11in the bay of Maribeles,
14:13MTKR Jason Bradley sank.
14:15Until now,
14:17the ship is still there
14:19with a load of 5,500 liters
14:21of operational oil.
14:23But here in the bay of Maribeles,
14:25you can see the effect
14:27of the oil spill.
14:29There are marks of mud
14:31on their bay.
14:33Residents have also noticed
14:35dead fish.
14:37It's hard to say
14:39if this is directly related
14:41to the oil spill.
14:43The local government
14:45and the provincial government
14:47are sending
14:49improvised oil spill booms
14:51here in Maribeles
14:53to prevent
14:55the oil spill
14:57from entering their bay.
15:00In the drone video,
15:02MTKR Jason Bradley was surrounded
15:04by the oil spill boom.
15:05Two Coast Guard ships
15:07are also watching the oil tanker.
15:09We will continue to assess
15:11where to put the pipes
15:14so that we can start
15:16the siphoning here
15:18in MTKR Bradley.
15:20This Thursday,
15:22aside from the smelly complaint
15:24of the residents,
15:26some dead fish were seen
15:28in Pangpang.
15:30Some dead fish were seen
15:32in Pangpang.
15:33UPMSI said
15:35the oil spill
15:37is dangerous to health and the environment.
15:39The oil spill
15:41can affect
15:43organisms in the sea
15:45that are non-photonosynthesized.
15:47These are photosynthetic organisms
15:50like phytoplankton
15:52that we can see
15:54in surface water.
15:56The long-term impact
15:58of the oil spill
16:00can affect mangroves,
16:01coral reefs,
16:03and seagrass ecosystems.
16:05These are the homes,
16:07feeding ground,
16:09breeding ground,
16:11and habitat of diverse
16:13marine organisms
16:15in the environment.
16:17If the oil spill
16:19and seagrass ecosystem
16:21are already affected,
16:23the oil spill can have
16:25a long-term effect
16:27on food security in the country.
16:29In Terra Nova,
16:31if the oil spill
16:33does not spread,
16:35we will encounter
16:37problems
16:39in food security.
16:43In the past few days,
16:45the Bureau of Fisheries
16:47and Aquatic Resources
16:49or BFAR
16:51conducted water testing
16:53in some areas
16:55affected by the oil spill.
16:57We conducted
16:59sensory evaluation
17:01in the area
17:03of Bataan
17:05and Negatib.
17:07They do not smell like oil
17:09or taste like oil.
17:11But there are some areas
17:13in Bataan and Cavite
17:15that have already declared
17:17fishing ban.
17:19In Cavite in particular,
17:21it immediately manifested
17:23that there are fish
17:25that already tasted.
17:27So we forced them
17:29to declare
17:31a selective ban
17:33particularly in
17:35Ground Zero
17:37but not the entire area.
17:40On July 23,
17:42MV Mirola
17:44was the first to enter
17:46the shallow waters
17:48of Mariveles, Bataan.
17:50The Philippine Coast Guard
17:52immediately conducted
17:54an oil recovery operation.
17:56Minimal oil sheens
17:58were observed in the area.
18:00In the next incident
18:02of an oil spill,
18:06what is the government doing
18:08to prevent
18:10the continued oil spill?
18:12The Philippine Coast Guard
18:14also deployed
18:16the Marine Casualty
18:18Investigation Team.
18:20We have a law enforcement
18:22and investigation body
18:24that is here
18:26and at the same time
18:27we are also
18:29investigating the issue
18:31of oil spill.
18:33We are also
18:35investigating
18:37the issue
18:39of oil spill.
18:41We are also
18:43investigating
18:45the issue
18:47of oil spill.
18:49Unfortunately,
18:51there is no such thing
18:53as an oil spill cleanup
18:55because oil never disappears.
18:57It stays in the environment.
18:59The real long-term impacts
19:01may be unquantifiable.
19:03It is important
19:05to answer the questions
19:07about the oil spill.
19:09It is not the fault
19:11of the fisherfolk.
19:13It is certainly not the fault
19:15of the biodiversity in the area.
19:17It should also be recovery
19:19and compensation
19:21and accountability
19:23and transparency.
19:25The investigation
19:27will move forward
19:29in our investigations.
19:31Meanwhile,
19:33we tried to obtain
19:35the company that got
19:37the MT Terranova
19:39and MT Jason Bradley.
19:41But until now,
19:43they haven't answered us.
19:45The reporter's notebook
19:47for their investigation
19:49is open.
19:51The Philippine Coast Guard
19:53is continuing
19:55to investigate
19:57the oil spill.
19:59The tragedy
20:01is not only the destruction
20:03of the environment,
20:05but also the lives
20:07that are affected.
20:09By the end of the week,
20:11we don't know
20:13what to do.
20:15You'll be in trouble
20:17when you go home.
20:19You'll be caught
20:21in the gas station
20:23and you won't be able
20:25to buy a kilo of rice.
20:27And the government
20:29will help them
20:31to recover.
20:33I am Mackie Pulido.
20:35I am Dune Vanaracion
20:37and this is the Reporter's Notebook.