Fellow Filipinos,
We all know so well that a huge oil spill happened in the Philippines several weeks ago now and started to destroy our beautiful beaches and ecology. From the onset until this moment, the government of Gloria Arroyo has not done any action to contain the oil spill or force the owners of the vessel to clean up their mess, nor fined the responsible party. We are petitioning the Government to take action before a total devastation occur in the region.
The site of this petition can be found at http://www.petitiononline.com/Guimaras/petition.html
_______________________________________
To: The President, Republic of the Philippines, the Honorable Members of the Philippine Senate, and the Honorable Members of the House of Representatives
We, the undersigned, concerned Filipinos of the international Community and
our friends all over the world, urge the Government of the Philippines to do
all that is possible to abate the worsening impact of the oil spill that is
engulfing the beautiful island of Guimaras. The magnitude of the devastation
is beyond us to calculate because there is no reliable report as yet despite
the lapse of time that has occurred.
Date of accident : August 11, 2006
Name of the vessel : MT Solar I
Company owner of vessel : Sunshine Maritime Development Corp.
Insurer :(Luxembourg)Shipowners Mutual Protection &
Indemnity Asociation
Type of cargo : Industrial bunker oil
Amount of cargo : 528,000+ gallons in 10 tanks equivalent to
2 million liters
Site of vessel : 3,000 feet or 900 meters under water 24 kms.
off west of Guimaras Island
It was reported that Petron Corporation contracted the MT Solar 1 a single
hull vessel to deliver the cargo from Bataan Peninsula in Luzon to Western
Mindanao Power Corporation in Zamboanga del Sur (Mindanao Island), but sank
on its way to destination
Please visit this link to view the extent of the oil spill around the
southwest of Guimaras as of August 18, 2006.
http://assets.panda.org/img/original/guinaras_map.jpg
So far, the oil spill has extended affecting the eastern town of Concepcion,
Iloilo, and more towns as the spill continues unchecked.
More southern and eastern/northeastern coastal towns of Panay and the
western coast of Negro Occidental are threatened.
The spill has already contaminated 240 kms of Guimaras coast, 1,000 hectares
of marine reserves, 60 hectares of seaweed plantations, and 40,000 people
whose survival depends upon the integrity of this marine environment have
been displaced. They have already lost their means of livelihood as
thousands more are facing the same fate while the oil spill continues.
We demand for immediate government action in containing this oil spill as we
anticipate greater damage to the population and destruction of the
environment if not controlled.
We hold the Petron Corporation accountable and must answer to rectify the
damage that has been done to the environment and to the people of Guimaras,
Panay and Negros Islands.
We deplore the slow response to this emergency situation which increases the
danger and the devastation as it goes unabated.
Therefore, we jointly call for the concerted action of government in
responding to this calamity in the best interest of the people of Guimaras
and the surrounding areas that are now being affected and to enlist all
available help and succor as the case so requires because of its extreme
status as an emergency.
We hereby affix our signatures to attest to our own commitment to help and
to mobilize our resources by soliciting the support of all who share our
concerns; to compel all responsible individuals and entities to do something
in an appropriate response to this emergency, to save lives, and to save
this environment in peril.
Thank you for your prompt attention on this petition requiring your urgent
and immediate action.
Sincerely,
Join OFI Bank
The Future Bank of Global Filipinos
Buti na lang langis ang kumalat at hindi ang mga ihi ni tiyanak at baboy. Dapat ilubog sa dagat na may langis ang dalawa para mawala na sa mundo ang mga diablo.
The oil spill is huge and the whole country is small compared to the oceans surrounding it. Unless the oil spill is contained, the country will wake up tomorrow swimming in oil. Of course marine life will be wiped out, but life on land will be wiped out too. Oil on water surface prevents evaporation. Without evaporation, there will be no rain. No rain makes the land arid, rivers dry and no watershed for drinking water, not to mention agriculture. Gloria will reign on her enchanted kingdom of dead people.
One banner says: arroyo VOWS to dig deeper into the oil spill:
MERON pa bang naniniwala sa “VOW” na sinasambit ni glue?
SINUNGALING naman sya::::kaya BALS-WALS BAWA’T SABIHIN NIYA.
BESIDES, ANG TAGAL UMAKSYON BAGO MAKAPAGBIGAY NG ORDER RE OILS SPILL!
LAGYAN NG SEMENTO SI GLUE AT SI TABATCHING AT SUNUGIN SA GUIMARAS!
for me and for many i suppose, crime against nature is much bigger than crime against humans because it takes much more time and energy to correct and most often affect a lot more humans than we first thought. the longer one wait the bigger the effect.
Alitaptap:
Two or three years ago, I translated an interview with Filipino fishermen from Bicol who had to travel to as far as north of the Marianas to fish because there were no more fish along the Bicol shores and perhaps up to down Leyte and Samar that with the oil spill at Guimaras, the same town that suffered just last Winter when a mountain collapse because it was along an earthquake fault that was aggravated by a construction of a road there with the approval of the Pandak who was fairly warned about the fault, but did not stop the construction of the road there.
Basta magkaroon lang ng ipapangyabang niya and then have a name of one of her kin attach to it.
Now, the Pandak has declared a national calamity when the spill should have been contained in that area and not allowed to travel up to the Marianas or north of Luzon up to Taiwan and Japan, for the truth is that there are parts of Japan that are connected to the Philippine plate and the possibility of the spill getting transferred to Japan by the current is possible.
O baka naman gamitin ni Boba ang information na ito para i-pressure ang Japan to send SOS! Aba, e talagang pakapalan na iyan. Puede ba kung di niya magawa ang trabahong ninakaw niya e bumaba na lang siya!
PATALSIKIN NA, NOW NA!
one of the many problems with our leaders is that if ever they act, it is either too late or too little aside from the fact that they always do things with personal agenda. it seems therefore logical to me that gma has in mind sos help from rich countries like japan. i remember when tsunami hit indonesia, thailand and other countries in the neighborhood, she was envious of the support these countries got instead of feeling sorry for them and luckily for the phil. fil do not deserve this leader.
Sabi siguro ni Pandak, “Teka muna kayo. Pabayaan natin iyong governor ng Leyte ang mag-isip kung ano ang gagawin niya sa oil spill. Baka magawan niya ng paraan. Magpadala na lang ng maraming plastic trash bag at hakutin ng mga sundalo. O sulatan na ang mga bansang puedeng tumulong. Pakisabing perahin na lang kung tutulong sila!”
Ang kaso wala yatang gustong maniwala. Kaya para maniwala ang mga kano, hapon, et al, nag-declare ng state of national calamity! Pati paghihirap ng mga pilipino, pinagkakakuwartahan ng ungas! Iyong mga abuloy sa Guimaras last Winter, etc. binulsa na siguro kasi wala kang naririnig sa mga walanghiya.
I know Japan gave a lot of contributions. I saw boxes at Minato Ward and Shinagawa Ward for the Leyte disaster. There are 23 wards and cities in Tokyo alone, kaya limpak limpak na yen ang abuloy na iyan. Hindi naman ibinubulsa ng mga hapon ang mga abuloy na ganyan at natanggap na ang mga abuloy na iyan sa totoo lang via some Philippine bank operating illegally in Japan. Kaya nakasuhol ang walanghiya doon sa mga matatakaw na galamay niya sa Tongress unang-una na iyong si Joe Dementia!
These are the tricks the Malacanang squatters are trying to hoodwink Filipinos with such as (1) delaying tactic even in times of a calamity or disaster especially when there is money involved, and the money is no longer in the national chest but in some private fund or account, (2) libel suits that in foreign courts will be trashed in the waste bin for their silly nature as when Banayo called the Fatso “Tabatsoy na asawa” in Spanish, (3) wine and dine with pakipkip the crooks who can help her kill any movement to remove her from the palace by the murky river that in fact is illegal even in the Philippines for bribery is in fact a crime, (4) forced donations called contribution from jueteng and gambling lords in exchange for special protection, etc.
All these in fact would constitute crimes in other more progressive countries as in Japan, where politicians and bureaucrats in fact jump from tall buildings or hang themselves by the curtail rail of some hotel bathroom when exposed and they cannot bear to lose face getting imprisoned.
It’s a natural thing that in fact should be the best way to remove this kind of crooks forever, but alas, over there the rule of the game especially now is PAKAPALAN NG MUKHA!!! Come Thursday, baka magpakapal ulit ng mukha si Pandak called bello-bello, and then have a rendezvous with the Binsot as rumored, especially with the Fatso having his own rendezvous elsewhere! KAPAL TALAGA NG MUKHA!
The Oil spills in Guimaras was an accident waiting to happen, that we know for sure. A single-hulled tanker is long being banned from carrying dangerous cargoes like oil. Petron knew about it, but the bottom line is the bottom line – the Profit. Now the damage is more than the profit, the way we screw ourselves to the ground. And it will be in the environment for a long time. A wake up call maybe? I still don’t know. The way everybody sound asleep, no amount of tragedy, man-made mostly, can wake up the sleeping giants in our government who for so full of dinning on People taxes, we can hope that the just stay asleep literally.
What is sad here is that the people who rely on daily catch for their livelihood can no longer do so. Paano na sila? Are there any alternatives that government is doing for them because of this horrible disaster?
Ms. Ellen, I heard today that apparently, the ship owners of the chartered vessels are employees and officers of Petron. They use dummy corporations para hindi halata na sila ang may-ari. So even those unsafe vessels are chartered since they themselves approved the contract! By international standards, oil companies should only use double hull vessels. It seems that Petron used single hull vessels, as shown in the Semerara and Guimaras oil spill!!! Ms. Ellen, is there a way of finding out if this is true, kasi grabe naman kung tutoo nga ‘to!
Gosh, another cover up? Wala na bang kasawa-sawa ang mga pilipino? Bakit hindi umaatungal ang mga sipsip na tongressmen ni Pandak to demand that the company that owns the ship and the oil are made legally responsible for the spill regardless of whether or not it is an accident. Iyan ang mga bobo!
Ang una at kaisa-isang prioridad ni tiyanak ay kung paano siya manatili sa kapangyarihan. Ke ano kung may oil spill? Ke ano kung tumatalon sa mga gusali at bahay ang mga OFWs natin sa Lebanon? Ke ano kung patuloy na nagugutom ang mga mamamayan? Basta ang importante sa kanya ay patayin ang impeachment; ilabas ang nakaw na pera, takutin ang mga kaaway, hayaan magpatuloy ang mga krimen at ilegal na negosyo, sugal, jueteng.
Sa ibang bansa, ang oil spill ay isang napakalaking problema. Agad itong pag-uusapan at paghahandaan. Kaya naman umaksiyon si tiyanak at bumisita pa kuno sa lugar na iyon eh binanatan siya ng international media at environment groups. Wala nang ginawang matino itong bruha sampu ng kanyang pamilya at alipores.
Kaya…lusob na mga kapatid! Lusob na at patayin si tiyanak!
Bakit tinanggap ni Bishop Pueblos ang nomination? Isa siya sa dumalo sa party sa Malacanang noon at tumanggap ng white envelope.
Bishop in slay probe says he is doing it for country
BUTUAN Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos yesterday said he accepted his nomination as member of the Melo Commission “for the country and not for GMA (President Arroyo).”
The special commission headed by former Supreme Court justice Jose Melo was created to investigate the spate of killings of militants and mediamen.
Aside from Pueblos, named to the commission were NBI director Nestor Mantaring, Chief Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño, UP pegent Nelia Gonzalez, and lawyer Rogelio Vinluan.
The members will take their oath in Malacañang today.
Artsee asked:”Bakit tinanggap ni Bishop Pueblos ang nomination? Isa siya sa dumalo sa party sa Malacanang noon at tumanggap ng white envelope.”
What’s surprising about Bishop Pueblos’ acceptance of another favor from Arroyo?
It would have been surprising if he declined.
vic Says:
“The Oil spills in Guimaras was an accident waiting to happen, that we know for sure. A single-hulled tanker is long being banned from carrying dangerous cargoes like oil.”
indeed, vic, everytime this country is visited by tragedy, we are always sure the government or any of its agencies are caught with their pants down. that is as sure as the sun rise and set each day. i will not single-out this gma government for another debacle like this because i know from since then that problems like this had been hounding one administration after another. that fact alone lead me to believe that we really deserve the leaders we put in high office.
marina, i think, is the regulatory agency overseeing the sea-worthiness of a vessel and the qualifications of the personnel manning these vessels at sea. the revelation that safety regulations had been set aside (using a single-hulled vessel to transport hazardous cargo) is proof enough of gross negligence on the part of the agency tasked to regulate the industry. after we knew they did not do their job, it has become too late. an environmental tragedy happened already and it’s too late to do something about it.
i am sure, there maybe few who already knew this violation long before. if those who knew this unsafe and hazardous business practice of the ship owner and Petron blew the whsitle early on, this environmental crisis could have been averted. now, simple negligence of a few became not only a nightmare to the innocent people of guimaras but also become an explosive threat to the neighboring provinces of iloilo, negros, bohol and cebu. we could not help ease or soften the impact of this environmental crisis by mere cursing government officials and calling them names. that could wait an opportune time, if we have the displaced passion of finding faults in others but not our own.
we can do something more concrete and noble than that. from gathering cut-hairs from neighboring beauty parlors and barbershops near your house and sending them to the designated collection centers set up by greenpeace to the giving of few pesos, pieces of used clothes, a can of sardines, a kilo of rice or a pack of instant noodle for the hungry families living in coastal areas of guimaras highly dependent on fishing. or maybe giving useful tips that would provide concrete, direct and swift solution to the environment problem of guimaras.
Salamat Ate Ellen. Hindi ba karamihan sa dumalo sa Malacanang party at tumanggap ng lagay ang mga Obispo sa Visayas at Mindanao. Kaya ayan, si Pueblos kasama…
Fencesitter,
I know of people in the Philippines who have been fighting shipping companies close to the bogus president, and are doing their dumbest to bring to the attention of even international organizations the kind of environmental problems they have caused, etc. Instead of acting on the issue, the government in fact has filed libel suits against these people because the people being complained of are friends of the bogus president.
In other words, this bogus government will never cooperate with concerned organizations but insist on its stupidity and resort only on bogus activities like filing libel suits on individuals and groups for better Philippines if they cannot have them buried six feet underground because they are obstacles to what the bogus president wants done for her own survival, and worse, replace these organizations with bogus “people initiatives” that will sing her tune.
She is fast in doing that, even in trying to make money out of the miseries of the Filipinos like what she did when a mountain collapsed and buried a whole village. She waited for pledges for alms to be made by big countries like the US, UK, Japan, etc. before making the trip to the area, and when she saw that the damage was too big to be covered even by the contributions from abroad, she decided to have the diggings there stopped and let those buried there die a natural death even by suffocation. In short, binulsa na lang ang mga collection from overseas!
Now the idiot is doing the same thing. She has declared a state of national calamity, but the response from overseas is slow not really because they know that serious though this kind of spill can cause the environment, declaring a national calamity is not necessary. It is more a matter of will and sincerity to do what is right.
I doubt if collecting hairs and feathers would be enough, for over here, I have seen government agencies pouring tons and tons of chemicals to dillute the oil from sunken ships, and money spent for equipments necessary to collect the spilled oil. I have never heard of any beauty parlor or barber shop here being asked to contribute those cut hair for this kind of operation. Over here, they do not just throw the hair in fact. They are collected to be recycled.
Calling these neglectful politician names is just right as a matter of fact especially if they can be moved by such. Unfortunately, over in the Philippines, what they have there now is a bogus president who is made of some animal hide so thick that she cannot be moved to step down and leave the job she has usurped to someone more qualified and able.
Maybe you are after all right in saying that calling this bogus president all kinds of derogatory names is useless. Hindi kasi tinatablan dahil makapal nga ang mukha! 😛
Hindi kaya si Boncodin ang malas sa Petron kaya may oil spill?
Gloria is delighted that the Philippines is eligible to collect $300 million in compensation from international pollution fund. It appears Jose Pidal continues to get fat.
somebody said long ago that politics is the art of the possible. it seems to me now that it is the art of the impossible. for how can it be possible that we now have a president like gma, a first gentleman who does not want to be called fat but thin though actually fat etc.etc.. the only logical consequence i can see out of this illogical realities is that it must not be impossible to remove gma.
On the other hand, ano ang ginagawa ng mga tuta ni Pandak sa Tongress. Bakit hindi nag-iingay si Nobrales, Lagayman, Dementia o Pechay? Hinihintay muna kung magkano ang balato sa 16M dollars ba? Mga ganid talaga!
Dapat matuto ang mga taga PANAY na lutasin nila ang kanilang problema hindi iyong maghihintay pa ng kung anu ano ang iniuutos ng mga taga Manila.
Lumalabas tuloy na gusto pa rin nilang magpahawak sa leeg ng MANILA EMPIRE.
Nelbar:
Iyong mga Ilonggo sa Internet pa nga ang mahilig mag-diskurso tungkol sa balkanization/federalization ng Pilipinas kuno pero hindi naman yata naiintindihan.
Dito sa Japan, matagal nang ginagawa ng aming pamahalaan ang maging independent ang mga local government na maayos naman ang takbo dahil involved ang ordinary citizens sa local level lalo na doon sa mga rural areas. Ang kailangan lang naman sa totoo lang ay civic consciousness and community awareness. Marami kami niyan na sa observation ko ay dapat pang ituro sa mga pilipino.
Magagawa sana iyan sa Pilipinas kundi pinagpapapatay iyong mga lider na nagtraining pa sa ibang bansa ng tinatawag na
networking. Isang NGO ngang pinoy na nakausap ko ang naiinggit sa amin dito kasi malaya kaming kumilos kasi ang masama pa ay balik daw sila sa graft and corruption dahil daw walang magagawa kundi makikisama lalo pa ngayon na may nakakatutok daw na baril sa kanila kung lumihis sila sa gusto ni Pandak.
Sorry, pero talagang Tangna talaga itong si Pandak at iyong mga kasama niya lalo na iyong Fatso na mayabang na wala nang ipinagmalaki kundi mag-libel suit! Bakit pinapayagang ng mga pilipino iyan? Tapos magrereklamo sila?
Puede ba, PATALSIKIN NA, NOW NA! Matalino daw? Neknek niya! Tuso, Yes, pero matalino? NO WAY! PARA BANG SINABI NG KUNG SINO DITO NA LAHAT NG KRIMINAL AY MATALINO!
Forgot to mention, Nelbar, that over here, the local government tries to be independent likewise in funding its own projects. Kung maubos lang humihingi sa national fund gaya halimbawa ng ibinabayad sa mga interpreters na kinakailangan halimbawa sa pag-iimbestiga ng mga kaso ng mga dayuhan dito sa Japan. Iyong local police ay subsidized ng local government pero hindi sila sakop ng local government, at kapag nagkulang ay pinupunuan ng national government. At saka hindi personal ang paghingi ng pundo dito sa mga project gaya ng ginagawa ng mga tongressmen sa Pilipinas. Ang gawain ng mga representatives ay iluhod ang petition ng constituents nila sa national government pero pag bigayan ng pera ay wala silang pakialam. Ganyan sana sa Pilipinas, at saka bakit pinababayaan ang pangulo na nakikialam ng budget e ang dapat lang niyang gawin ay alamin ang nararapat at pumirma. Hindi iyong puede siyang mang-ipit. Kagaguhan talaga ang ginawang palakad diyan kaya kahit bogus na presidente ay puedeng gumawa ng kabulastugan!
Tama na, sobra na. PATALSIKIN NA, NOW NA!
Over here…dito sa China, maayos ang aming pamamalakad. Sa loob lamang ng 10 taon, umangat ang ekonomiya at kabuhayan ng China. Hindi matanggap ng mga sakang na ang bansang minsan nilang sinakop ay nalagpasan na sila. Ngayon, kumakapit sa Amerika kahit sila ang bumomba sa Hapon na ikinamatay ng marami. Dahil sa mga sundalong Hapon, nagkalat ang mga lahing mestiso at mestisa sa Pilipinas. Marami ang hindi umaamin na may dugo silang Hapon. Ang iba ay nagpapakilalang Chinese mestizo sila; at ang iba naman at pumunta na lang sa Japan para manirahan na lang doon. At iyang ugaling pananakop sa kapwa ay tumatagos sa ugali ng mga lahi nila na pati sa usapang pulitika at relihiyon ay halata nating arogante at mapang-api.
mga kabayan, wag nating madaliin ang pag-aksyon ni mrs. epoxy de pidal de dorobo dahil hinihintay pa niya at pinagpaplanuhan kung paano gagawin nya sa $310m buhat sa international civil liability and fund compensation. kita nyo naman, halos wala nang makain ang mga kawawang kababayan natin sa guimaras, si gng. epoxy de pidal de dorobo, ang nasa tuktok pera, datung, kwarta at atik.
Nakakatulong ba talaga ang mga buhok ng preso sa oil spill? Para sa akin kalokohan iyan. Isa na naman publicity gimmick ni tiyanak. Scientifically ay may kaunting contribution ang mga buhok at balahibo ng mga manok. Pero walang kuwenta iyan kung hindi gawin ng paraan. Hindi puwedeng mano-mano. Aba, oil spill iyan sa dagat.
Letter from France:
Bonjour ,
Sorry for my bad english.
I signed your petition.
I am member of a plaform born with the Erika oil spill in France.
We know that it is important to pressureour governant to prevent
other oil spil and have a complete cleaning in the shortest time.
We have a website. We put our actions, and give information on the
maritime life. We have made a special report on Guimaras oil spill :
http://www.coordmareenoire.net/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=402
We should be glad if it can help you .
We are searching about notice of the social impact of the oil spill.
I find few ones.
Is there more ?
Cordialement,
JC Hervé
mailto:205fsu@fr.oleane.com
http://www.coordmareenoire.net/sommaire.php3