Visayas Oil Spill

Iloilo City — Mangroves in Guimaras continue to suffer from the effects of one of the country's worst oil spill almost three years ago.

Scientists have discovered more abnormalities in mangroves that were contaminated by the oil spill, which pointed to the continued effects of the disaster.

Dr. Resurreccion Sadaba, program manager of the University of the Philippines in the Visayas (UPV) Oil Spill Response Program, said recent samplings on mangroves showed “albinism” among trees.

This is characterized by the pale color of mangrove saplings instead of its normal green appearance.

“This can be attributed to the effects of the oil contamination,” Sadaba said in a briefing on Wednesday attended by Sen. Pia Cayetano.

Cayetano chaired the Senate committee on environment when the oil spill occurred on Aug. 11, 2006 after the MT Solar 1, chartered by Petron Corp., sank in stormy seas southeast of Guimaras and spilled more than 2.1 million liters of bunker fuel oil it was transporting from Bataan to Zamboanga.

Sadaba said they took samples of mangrove trees afflicted with albinism during field studies on Jan. 16-19 at the 1,143-hectare Taklong Island National Marine Reserve (Tinmar) in Nueva Valencia town, the hardest hit by the oil spill among the island-province's five municipalities.

He said they expected the growth of these mangrove trees to be stunted because of the abnormalities.

Earlier studies conducted among mangroves, which suffered most from the oil sludge, showed their continued defoliation and the reduction of leaf size and canopy cover. /Inquirer