NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews / 12 April)—Our economy is yet far away from recovering from the disaster of COVID-19 pandemic; yet, already, it is reeling from the impact of another catastrophic force—the price of fossil fuel.
We have a breather the last two weeks with the steady drop of the pumped petrol price. But the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) aborted our little pleasure by tightening production recently to advance their revenues. The reduction of supply exaggerates demands and catapults to sky high the price of the fluid that essentially fuels the world economies.
The oil crisis is our perennial agony. It has not and may never leave us.
The price of fossil fuel spikes the prices of basic commodities and other defining things in life, worsening further the condition of our poverty stricken people.
And as if our misfortune is not yet a sufficient suffering to bear, come another version of an oil crisis—the oil spill off the coast of Oriental Mindoro that is suffocating coastal communities and the environment.
The oil spill from the sunken MT Princess Empress has deprived thousands of fisherfolk of their livelihood, alters adversely their way of life, and undermines food security in affected places. The loss of income and thus access to basic commodities is compounded by the uncontrolled rise of the prices of said household essentials.
Already, waves rammed Oriental Mindoro beaches with black sludge smothering sea grasses and mangroves, and destroying beach resorts and other tourist spots.
Moreover, northeasterly wind and ocean currents spread the toxic oil slick down south to Palawan and northern Antique and could bring similar havoc that devastates Oriental Mindoro. The northeasterly wind may soon dissipate and will be replaced by the southwesterly wind. This change in weather and wind direction may save the southern islands from the toxic oil slick but make the places north of Mindoro vulnerable to it. The tourism and fishery industry of Batangas and Cavite is seriously under threat.
Gravely threatened by the oil spill resulting from the change in wind course is the Verde Island Passage (VIP), a channel between Batangas and Mindoro, which is an area of extreme ecological importance. According to marine experts, the VIP has the highest concentration of marine shorefish biodiversity on the planet, with over 1736 overlapping species coexisting within just a 10 sq. km. area, earning the channel the label as “the epicenter of marine biodiversity.”
We need to forget for a while the surging prices of petro because, after all, we do not have a solution in the vicinity. We need to focus our attention in solving the oil spill to save human lives and biodiversity.
The solution is relatively simple. Seal the leak of the ill-fated tanker as quickly as possible and accelerate the recovery of its content by pumping and moving it into another vessel. There is no other way but to nip it at the bud, so to speak. The ongoing containment and scoping method is futile and meaningless if the black fluid continues to gush from the source.
On the other hand, nature may help us in licking the oil slick. The present of a typhoon, for instance, will blow away the oil slick far and wide and the heavy rains and consequent strong waves will disintegrate it into tiny bits, making it no longer in the position to deprive marine plants, fish and other living organisms of oxygen.
The first typhoon of the year is happily in the offing.
(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. William R. Adan, Ph.D., is retired professor and former chancellor of Mindanao State University at Naawan, Misamis Oriental, Philippines.)
