‘No income, no sufficient aid’ for Mindoro Oriental fisherfolk following oil spill, fishing ban — research group

A coalition of scientists and environmental groups reported “widespread economic impacts” and “lack of sufficient and sustained ayuda” for communities across Mindoro Oriental following the recent oil spill and subsequent fishing ban.

The report of Brigada Kalikasan, AGHAM Advocates for Science and Technology for the People, Center for Environmental Concerns Philippines (CEC), and Serve the People Corps – Southern Tagalog (STPC) came after an independent fact-finding mission conducted last April 1 to 3. Local advocacy organization Angat Kabataan Mindoreño was also involved in the mission.

“On top of environmental issues, residents are having to deal with little to no income these past few weeks, causing trickle-down effects on their health and education,” said Jordan Fronda, research coordinator of CEC. “The impacts of the oil spill and fishing ban are also long-term, so it is not enough to just give one-time assistance.”

The report, which covered two municipalities and six barangays across Mindoro Oriental and involved over 400 individual respondents, also documented that over 90% of individuals “do not earn enough to meet their family’s needs” following the oil spill.

While most residents have received aid over the past few weeks, nearly 100% of respondents also reported that the aid they received was “insufficient”. Ayuda packs would mainly come in the form of food, while other needs such as hygiene supplies for infants or money for allowances and transportation for children going to school were not addressed.

According to the group, residents even reported that the impacts of the oil spill and fishing ban “were worse than COVID” as the oil spill prevented them from catching food to eat.

“The scale of the impacts are immense, which really shows the need for immediate and more comprehensive action responding to the needs of the people,” said Berto Alinea of STPC. “Civil society is doing what we can but this is not enough. We need the national government to improve and hasten its response, especially in terms of addressing the socio-economic impacts. We enjoin the Mindoreños in seeking accountability to RDC Reield Marine Services for the grave ecological and environmental impacts caused by the oil spill.”

The coalition plans to return to the community to assist in further relief efforts. Alongside community members, they called for an immediate resolution to the oil spill itself as well as immediate, sufficient, and sustained relief efforts from the national government. #