PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday assured residents of Oriental Mindoro of the government’s continued assistance as the damage cost and losses due to the oil spill are about to breach the P1-billion mark.

The President on Saturday visited Pola, Oriental Mindoro to personally inspect and assess the damage of the oil spill that impacted the province’s fishing livelihood.

In his remarks during the distribution of various government assistance in the area, Marcos said that oil spill response efforts being conducted by the government and the international community have so far produced “good” results.

“Maganda naman po ang naging resulta so far, dahil lahat po ng ahensya ng gobyerno mula noong tumama ‘yung oil spill, mula noong lumubog ‘yung barko, ay lahat na naka-alert na lahat (The result has been good so far, because all government agencies since the oil spill hit and the ship sank are all on alert),” he said.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. conducted on Saturday an aerial inspection of the Oriental Mindoro coastlines affected by the oil spill in the province. Presidential Communications Office PHOTOS

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. conducted on Saturday an aerial inspection of the Oriental Mindoro coastlines affected by the oil spill in the province. Presidential Communications Office PHOTOS

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. conducted on Saturday an aerial inspection of the Oriental Mindoro coastlines affected by the oil spill in the province. Presidential Communications Office PHOTOS

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. conducted on Saturday an aerial inspection of the Oriental Mindoro coastlines affected by the oil spill in the province. Presidential Communications Office PHOTOS

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. conducted on Saturday an aerial inspection of the Oriental Mindoro coastlines affected by the oil spill in the province. Presidential Communications Office PHOTOS

The President said he assured Oriental Mindoro Gov. Humerlito Dolor that he had directed his Cabinet secretaries to rush the cleanup efforts due to the threat of the oil spill reaching the shoreline.

Marcos also thanked the international community for their assistance to the government in the oil spill response.

“Kaya’t sa ngayon naman, mabuti naman marami tayong kaibigang tinulungan tayo, galing sa Japan, galing sa Amerika. Tinulungan tayo para — kung papaano ang pinakamagandang gagawin para mabawasan ang epekto nung oil spill (For now, it is good that we have many friends who assisted us, from Japan and America. They helped us — with the best methods to reduce the impact of the oil spill),” he said.

The United States recently provided $20 million worth of assistance for the oil spill response in the said province.

The oil spill began on February 28, when the MT Princess Empress sank in the province’s waters.

It carried nearly 800,000 liters of oil and a fishing ban has since been imposed in the area.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) reported that some P441.25 million in income has been lost in 22 fishing days due to the Mindoro oil spill.

In a briefer sent to media, the BFAR said more than 26,000 fishermen were directly affected by the oil spill as of March 31, and they suffered P714 in daily income loss.

Since the start of the oil spill, the government has been monitoring the situation in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Mimaropa (Mindoro Occidental and Oriental, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) and Western Visayas, the agency said in a statement.

“It has also provided technical support i.e. analyzing water and seafood for contaminants and formulating science-based recommendations on fishing bans, as well as livelihood interventions, food and relief assistance, and cleanup assistance to protect the public from hazards caused by the oil spill and to address the needs of affected fisherfolk and their families,” the BFAR said.

“Water and seafood samples are collected in select areas and analyzed on a weekly basis,” it added.

The BFAR found that 86 fish and other marine samples collected on March 10 and 11 from seven municipalities in Mindoro “did not show the presence of petroleum-related products,” while three seaweed samples taken from the municipality of Caluya in Antique “showed the presence of petroleum-related products.”

Twenty-three water samples collected from March 9 to April 4 from 10 municipalities of Oriental Mindoro and Caluya in Antique “showed minimal levels of oil and grease,” the BFAR said.

Fifteen fish samples collected from Oriental Mindoro from March 4 to March 10, and seaweeds collected from Caluya, Antique on March 4 both showed “low levels” of toxins and contaminants, according to the agency.

“Since the bureau found low levels of PAH in seafood samples, it recommended keeping fishing bans in areas concerned while the time-series analyses are still ongoing,” it said.

“The bureau is fast-tracking the laboratory tests without compromising the accuracy of data, which would serve as the basis for its future recommendations,” the BFAR added.