Ever since I was a kid I always dreamt of going to Guimaras. I spent the first 10 years of my life in two beautiful islands, Negros and Panay. My mom worked in Bacolod as a school teacher and my Dad worked as a salesman at John Deere, a multi-national company that sells tractors to sugar hacienderos during the sugar boom in the island of Negros. Once a month and during summer time we get to ride a ship in going to my mom’s place in Jaro, Iloilo and spent our leisurely time in their ancestral home.
Before entering the port of Iloilo, the ship passes through the exotic island of Guimaras, Once the island is in sight, I sneaked out from my mom and ran as fast as I could to the deck of the ship and gazed at the beautiful rock formation and awesome greenery of Guimaras. As the ship carefully navigates through the Guimaras strait, small fishing boats with colorful sails called paraos sail alongside the big ship. I froze and gazed at every contour of the cliffs, pearly white and sometimes biege sand beaches dotted the shores, and unexplored caves were revealed during low tide. I even wondered if there are people living on that island because I don’t even see any houses along the shoreline and on its pristine sand beaches. I learned later from my Tita’s nanny who is a native of Guimaras that there are many people in the island and that the best mangoes in the world can be found in Guimaras.
She also said that there are many hidden beaches waiting to be discovered and told me to bring a flashlight if I wanted to join her when she goes home for a vacation.
She said most parts of the island have no electricity yet. Unfortunately, my mom and my Tita never allowed me to go there because they are afraid that the small banca (outrigger boat) which was used to ferry people from Iloilo to Guimaras on a 15 minute ride might capsize. They said the waves were very high and unpredictable and there's even a monster. Oh well what can I do I was just a kid then. I did use the same scare tactics to my sons once in a while.
Several decades later, I now lived in Quezon City and once in a while we still travel back to Iloilo to visit my mom’s sister and other relatives who now lives in Villa. When I travel to Iloilo I still opt to ride on the Super Ferry instead of taking the plane simply because I don’t want to miss the opportunity to run up the deck and once again looked at the sight to behold, enchanting Guimaras! The scenery still look’s the same, I have begun to memorized all the rocks, caves and even spot immediately the huge cross that was mounted on top of the tallest hill in Guimaras. Progress seems so slow in Guimaras, and I hope it would remain that way.
Not that I don’t want the people’s lives to improved but rather I don’t want the landscape to change and turn it into another Boracay. The high school department announced that this year’s “Lakbay Aral”, educational trip for teachers will be held in Guimaras. I can’t hardly wait until its summer time. We plan to go there in April. Finally, after years of waiting,I am going to step on the shores of Guimaras. So since June, a minimal salary deduction have been implemented to cover the cost of the journey to Guimaras.
But things totally changed last August 11, 2006, the once charming island of Guimaras have been turned into an environmental nightmare. M/T Solar 1, an oil tanker owned by Sunshine Maritime Corporation and chartered by Petron sank and leaks in the Panay Gulf of Guimaras Island causing a massive oil spill which affects 15 square kilometers (10 square miles) of coral reefs, over 200 kilometers (125 miles) of coastline, 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) of marine reserves, at least two resort islands and 50 hectares (124 acres) of seaweed plantations. The biggest oil spill ever in Philippine history. This prompted President Gloria Arroya to declare it as a national disaster.
The coast guard have fined the giant Petron Corporation $100 million for the havoc that they have committed to Guimaras. And guess what? Petron refuses to pay and argues that they are not responsible for the mess. However, they are willing to shoulder the cost of cleaning up and rehabilitating Guimaras and its people. So for Petron, its business as usual. Let’s see how much Petron really have contributed so far.
Petron, the largest oil refiner in the Philippines , a company that offers a wide range of products from fuels to accessories through their network of over 1,200 retail stations nationwide not to mention Petron Gasul being used in most homes in the Philippines and considering that it is earning millions of dollars a month is paying a measly P200 ($4) a day for the fishermen to scoop up the sludge on the shores. Many have no masks and use their bare hands.
The fishermen used to earn a minimum P500 a day plus free fish for lunch and dinner for their families. Now they have nothing to catch. And in the first place, to save on cost Petron hired a single hulled vessel to carry their oil. So what’s the difference you may asked? Think of the vessel as your lunch box. If you have soup, you place it on a different container, like a smaller Tupperware that would fit into the lunch box so that in case that your soup would spill out of the container, it would just be contained inside your lunch box and it won’t get your notebooks and books get wet while you place your lunch box inside your bag. Well. M/T Solar 1 is a single hulled ship, meaning when there’s a leak, everything directly goes out into the sea.
Two weeks after its sinking, the M/T Solar I has finally been located, But Petron’s spokesman told the media in a news conference that the arrival of the salvage vessel they hired from Japan will be delayed due to “logistical problems” he did not elaborate.
While waiting for the salvage ship, oil spill from the sunken tanker continues to spread, an average of 25-50 gallons of oil continued to gush every hour, officials said. Only a portion of the problem is seen on television, here’s the other portion, the oil slick was on a direct course towards the rich ecosphere of the Guimaras Strait—home to such endangered species as the dugong, and such turtles as the green sea and the hawksbill. Dugongs are small relatives of the manatee and the sea cow. They are generally less than three meters long.
While the villagers are waiting for their shores to be cleaned up, to date, P25 Million of fish have been killed, P10 Million worth of mangrove have been destroyed P20 million worth of bangus fingerlings have also been destroyed. There have been 2 reported deaths due to asthma, one entire village have to be evacuated due to toxic fumes. Since all the oil that was gathered were just placed in sacks and dumped into the shoreline of the village.
The government is still planning were they will bring it. And today, the oil spill is threatening to reach the Visayan sea, noted to be one of the world’s richest fishing grounds and threatening beach resorts in Bantayan Island and Cebu.
Hopefully our government will act faster, and most especially Petron. I just wish that they are as good as their latest commercial about the Xtra Mile challenge, with just one full tank of Petron’s gasoline, your car can go 1,400 Kms. If only Petron can go an extra mile in cleaning up their mess which they made other people pay for it and not work like a tortoise, then probably I’ll start using Petron gasoline again and maybe forgive you for ruining my island in my dreams.
Here are excerpts from a Greenpeace interview with some of the affected people in Guimaras:
What does a kid in Guimaras have to say?
"I only wish that the oil goes away quickly"
I am 12 years old and I live in Citio Lusaran on the island of Guimaras. I am in Grade 6 now, my favourite subjects are mathematics and sports. In my spare time I go swimming and fishing. I learned to fish when I was seven years old. On friday 12 august I was on my way back from school along the beach when I found it all black. I didn't know what it was and thought it was just some mud the sea had brought in and that would go away quickly. But then I heard in the radio it was oil.
Now I can't go swimming any more. But that is not the worst thing. The worst is that we cannot catch fish, because they say it is dangerous to eat. The government gave us noodles and dried fish, but I don't like them. It doesn't taste like fresh fish. I only wish and pray that the oil goes away quickly so we can go fishing and swimming again.
How does a scientist feel’s about it?
"I started crying when I saw the mangrove tree"
by Dr. Resurreccion Sadaba, Mangrove-Specialist from the University of the Philippines
When I heard about the sunken tanker on the radio I instantly feared for the marine reserve in Guimaras we are taking care of. I rang up my collegues to put a team together. I was espacially worried about one mangrove tree from the species rhizophoro lamanckii. It is a very rare species, there is only this single tree on the whole island! I have been taking care of it for years, it is really my baby. When I arrived here my worst fears turned reality: My mangrove tree was covered with oil. I started crying when I saw it.
90 percent of the mangroves in the marine reserve have their roots full of oil. Some more, some less, but the situation is really dramatic. The mangrove is so important because its roots build a kind of hall the fish can shelter in. It is so sad when you have a beautiful place like Guimaras and you see it all spoiled within hours.
We have an educational project here with schoolkids who come and learn about nature. I remember last december when there was this oil spill in Semirara. I told the kids it would be a nightmare if an oilspill would hit Guimaras - and now that has become true.
