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IN MET R MANILAO
VOL. XXXVII • NO. 59 • 2 SECTIONS 8 PAGES APRIL 16, 2023
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Oil spill damage nears P1b As PBBM directs LGUs to find more fishing grounds for Mindorenos n By VITO BARCELO AND VINCE LOPEZ
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RESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos has directed the Department of the Interior and Local Government to meet with local chief executives and discuss alternative fishing grounds to allow fisherfolk displaced by the massive oil spill in Oriental Mindoro to fish in other waters around the province. The President issued the directive during a situation briefing with the different national government agency heads and mayors in Pola town. This developed as the damage cost and losses due to the oil spill from the sunken motor tanker Princess Empress are about to breach the P1billion mark, according to data from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. Some P441.25 million in income has been lost in 22 fishing days due to the Mindoro oil spill, the BFAR said Saturday. Meanwhile, the damage or losses
in terms of inputs and produce, fishing gears and paraphernalia, and facilities and equipment amounted to P445,333,928. These include fisheries production losses from MIMAROPA’s commercial and municipal fisheries valued at P14,138,400 and damage to 119 metric tons of seaweed productions in Western Visayas valued at almost P3 million, BFAR director Demosthenes Escoto added. Data from the bureau showed more than 26,000 fisherfolk were directly affected by the oil spill. Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development
BIG SLICK. An aerial inspection shows the gleam of an oil slick near the coast of Pola, Oriental Mindoro on Saturday, when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (inset) visited the province to assess the rehabilitation from the massive oil spill from the sunken MT Princess Empress last February. OPS photos
continues to provide various interventions to families and individuals affected by the oil spill to complement the disaster response operations and efforts of their respective local government units. Mr. Marcos instructed DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. to schedule a dialogue with the local officials of the four fishing sites within the Calabarzon and Mimaropa regions that could be tapped by the affected fishermen. The four alternative fishing sites in Regions 4-A and 4-B include the Mindoro Strait in Mindoro Oriental; Cuyo Pass in Batangas; Tablas Strait in Romblon; and Tayabas Bay in Quezon. Calabarzon (Region 4-A) is composed of the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon while Mimaropa (Region 4-B) is composed of the provinces of Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan. The Chief Executive also assured that the national government, through the BFAR – an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture currently under the President’s supervision -- and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources will continue monitoring the situation on the ground. “DENR will continue to monitor the situation. BFAR will continue to monitor the situation. As soon as it becomes clear, and we can go back to the old normal going to the new normal,” the President pointed out.
Gov: Puerto Galera fails 4 straight water qualiy tests
OVERWATCH. President Marcos (right, in white shirt) oversees the aerial inspection in the areas affected by the oil spill in Oriental Mindoro. PUERTO Galera and nearby areas failed four consecutive water quality tests, making the popular tourist destination unsafe for swimming and other water activities, Oriental Mindoro Governor Bonz Dolor said Saturday. “As far as water quality is concerned, salt water, from Puerto Galera to Bulalacao, bagsak (failed the test),” Dolor told reporters at Pola town, where President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. visited. The governor said the latest results showed water quality was down even prior to Holy Week owing to the level of oil or grease followingthe massive oil spill triggered by the sinking of motor tanker Princess Empress off the coast of Pola, southeast of Puerto Galera, in late February.
Dolor said the local government of Puerto Galera earlier objected to the declaration of the state of calamity in the island, underscored by the visit of Tourism Secretary Christina GarciaFrasco last week and even diving at the area’s top spots to prove the water is safe. When asked if local officials in Puerto Galera could be held liable for allowing tourists and residents to swim in their waters despite knowing that there are traces of grease, the governor said: “I refuse to comment on that.” Dolor said he would wait for the official position of the Department of Health and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources before imposing a ban on swimming and water activities in the area.
Remulla knows where Bantag is, 49 cops found liable for massive shabu haul had ex-BuCor chief tailed by DOJ JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla knows where Gerald Bantag can be found, after the Philippine National Police deployed tracker teams to arrest the former Bureau of Corrections director charged with plotting the death of broadcaster Percy Lapid and killing an inmate involved in the assassination. Remulla revealed this during an interview on One News after a Las Pinas court issued arrest warrants against Bantag and former BuCor Deputy Security Officer Ricardo Zulueta, both of whom are facing non-bailable murder charges over the death of New Bilibid
Prison (NBP) inmate Jun Villamor. “We have a general idea of where he is,” Remulla said. “We’ve been following his movements for the past few weeks but I haven’t spoken to those doing that.” “Of course it’s our job to know where the person may be before, because that’s part of the job of the Department of Justice,” he added. Aside from Bantag, Remulla said Zulueta is also “being followed by our people.” “We’ve been trying to keep track of his movements so we have a general idea of his location,” he said.
FORTY-NINE officials and personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP) were found to have criminal and administrative liability in connection with the 990 kilograms of shabu confiscated in Manila last October. A memorandum signed by PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM) director Police Maj. Gen. Eliseo Cruz indicated that most of the officials and personnel were from the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG). The highest-ranking official cited by Cruz’s memo is former PDEG chiefPolice Brig. Gen. Narciso Domingo, who was told to go on leave along with nine other officials by Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos.
The Special Investigation Task Group 990 also ordered the PNP officials and personnel, who were involved in seizing the shabu worth a record P6.7 billion, to surrender their firearms. “There are 47, all of them PDEG, with Brig. Gen. Narciso Domingo. That’s our presscon tomorrow. We will present to you what we started, what we did, what we finished, our recommendation, and what we will do next,” Cruz said in a phone interview. Domingo was relieved of his post after the controversy on the case of nowdismissed Police Master Sgt. Rodolfo Mayo Jr., who yielded 990 kg. of shabu during an anti-drug operation on Oct. 8, 2022.
DND rips China envoy’s EDCA ‘illusion’
MORE GEAR. A special radar truck of the US Marines guides in two Osprey helicopters (background) into Subic Bay International Airport from Hawaii for Balikatan 2023. For the first time, the Marine MV-22B Ospreys traveled 5,340 nautical in 22.7 flight hours from MCAS Kaneohe Bay in Hawaii. USMC Photo / Cpl. Kyle Chan twitter.com/ MlaStandard
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THE Department of National Defense on Saturday defended the country’s Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement with the United States, just as it expressed concern on the remarks of Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian against the Filipino workers in Taiwan. Defense spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said the country is not “meddling in the internal affairs of China concerning Taiwan,” and even described this as the ambassador’s “illusion.” It was also not directed against any country, he added. The Chinese official’s statement is also a “subtle threat” to the country, the DND spokesman said, by
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“tragically leveraging on the plight of our hardworking and peace-loving OFWs” there. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had already said the Philippines will not allow its military bases to be used for any offensive attacks. A political analyst and a retired general earlier Saturday described the Chinese official’s statements as a “veiled threat.” Ret. Gen. Edilberto Adan said it was also “very disturbing” and a form of “coercion.” Political analyst Renato Cruz de Castro said he does not “see anyconnection to how the OFWs in Taiwan would be affected by the EDCA sites.”
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