The number of families affected by the oil spill from from the sunken MT Princess Empress in Oriental Mindoro has reached 19,000, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian said on Saturday.
“‘Yung bagong tala ni [Oriental Mindoro] Governor [Humerlito ‘Bonz’] Dolor, ‘yung provincial level, nasa 19,000,” Gatchalian said in an interview on Dobol B TV.
Gatchalian said the DSWD started giving food packs to affected families.
“Nagsimula kami sa food packs. 10,000 na apektadong pamilya, pero recently umakyat na ‘yan to 18,000 dahil ‘yung oil spill nga kumakalat eh. Yung dating towns, ‘yung mga bayan na hindi apektado, ngayon naapektuhan na rin … Lahat ‘yan [19,000] patuloy na binibigyan natin ng food packs,” he said.
Gatchalian said the giving of food packs will continue and will be sustained until fishermen are able to go out to fish and resume their livelihood.
“Ang usapan namin ni Gov. Dolor, wave after wave of food packs with one wave around 19,000,” he said of his talks with Dolor.
The affected fishermen will also be given work via a cash-for-work program.
They will be paid minimum wage for 15 days, with payout every five days, but the program may be extended even beyond 15 days, Gatchalian said.
On February 28, motor tanker Princess Empress was carrying industrial oil when it sank in the waters of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.
The oil spill has affected not just Oriental Mindoro, but even the municipality of Taytay in Palawan. —KG, GMA Integrated News
