Gumarin hits AC Energy’s slow response to oil spill

• Gov. Gumarin of Guimaras finds AC Energy’s response to oil spill as ‘very slow’.

• OCD-6 Director Nuñez assures the governor to focus the clean-up operation in the province.

Guimaras Governor Samuel Gumarin is not satisfied with the response of AC Enery in cleaning the bunker fuel that reached shores of Guimaras after an oil spill.

Gumarin joined Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) Region 6 Director Jose Roberto Nuñez and officials from the Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Army, Philippine Navy, Bureau of Fire Protection and the Department of Social Welfare and Development to conduct an ocular inspection of the damages brought by the oil spill from the AC Energy-operated Power Barge 102.

They were aboard a Philippine Navy vessel as they surveyed the coastlines of affected barangays in the Municipality of Buenavista.

Gumarin criticized AC Energy’s slow response to the tragedy particularly in cleaning up the bunker fuel that littered the shorelines of Guimaras.

“Response time sobrang bagal. Walang contingency plan. Kung may nakahandang spill booms sana nakala-deploy agad,” Gumarin said.

Nuñez agreed with the Governor and underscored the urgency of the situation as he assured to focus the efforts of the clean-up operation in the province.

He said that it should not take another week before AC Energy moves to collect the spilled hazardous waste that affected the marine ecosystem of the island and the livelihood of the Guimarasnons living in the coastal areas hit by the oil spill.

“I-schedule clean up drive. Dito mag-concentrate, magpadala ng tao. One week na tayo. Kailangan hindi na natin paabutin ng another week. Mahirap na,” Nuñez said.

Meanwhile, Gumarin cast doubt on the declaration of the AC Energy that around 251,000 liters of fuel have spilled when the barge was damaged by an explosion last July 3, 2020.

AC Energy should be responsible enough to release accurate data that is essential for the declarations to be undertaken by the municipalities.

“I think it is more than 251,000 liters. Actually tumutulong na tayo sa kanila. Dapat tulungan din nila tayo. We need data na tama,” he added.

Guimaras PDRRM Officer Ms. Teresita Siason said that 20 barangays in the municipalities of Jordan and Buenavista were affected by the oil spills. These barangays immediately deployed spill booms and initiated the clean-up operation. (via Guimaras PIO)