President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Saturday ordered the creation of an inter-agency task force that would address the oil spill from the sunken MT Terra Nova off Limay, Bataan.
In a situation briefing on the effects of Super Typhoon Carina and the Enhanced Southwest Monsoon in Malolos, Bulacan, Marcos said the task force would be composed of the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
“I will direct… the Civil Defense will take the lead here. You put the teams together from the DENR, the Coast Guard will have their part,” Marcos said.
Marcos meanwhile ordered the PCG to assess the MT Terra Nova’s condition while the DILG would coordinate the LGU units’ response.
“DILG of course, you will have to coordinate with the local executives to make sure that coordinated ang galaw natin,” he said.
The DENR’s role in the task force is to conduct water and air quality tests in the affected area, while the DOH monitors Bataan residents’ health and medical conditions.
The DOLE would deliver livelihood programs for affected residents, and the DSWD would aid victims.
In the same briefing, Marcos, with advice from the DENR, ordered the provincial governments that could be affected to install organic spill booms along coastal areas to prevent the oil spill from spreading.
“We will anticipate already the effects on the coastal areas, what they will need in terms of assistance. We can use the TUPAD… ‘yun ang immediate concern natin, is to have those booms made from indigenous materials, we have to deploy them as quickly as possible.”
Marcos asked the task force to work closely with Oriental Mindoro Governor Bonz Dolor, who also took part in the response to the oil spill from the sunken Sierra Leone-flagged dredger MV Hong Hai 189 last year.
One person died after the MT Terra Nova capsized and caused an oil spill in Bataan early Thursday.
The spill happened 3.6 nautical miles east off Lamao Point in Limay town around 1:10 a.m. — DVM, GMA Integrated News
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