Zambales residents race to contain oil spill in protected waters

SAN ANTONIO, ZAMBALES—When an oily substance was spotted along the shoreline of San Salvador Island in Masinloc town early Sunday, residents and members of the local “bantay dagat” (sea patrol volunteers) once again sprang into action to protect waters they have spent years helping conserve.

Edna “Beth” Sarmiento, 57, who leads the San Salvador Biodiversity-Friendly Association and a team of bantay dagat in San Salvador, told the Inquirer in a phone interview Monday that one of the volunteers first noticed the spill and reported it to her.

Sarmiento then notified the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) and Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (Menro), which provided absorbent pads that residents and bantay dagat members used to contain the spill.

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Working together

Residents, together with personnel from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, bantay dagat, Maritime Police, Philippine Coast Guard, and San Salvador village officials, worked side by side to prevent the oily substance from spreading.

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“We all worked together to stop it from spreading, especially since it was in front of the giant clam farm. Some of it had already spread to the mangroves,” Sarmiento said.

The incident served as another reminder of the community’s role in protecting San Salvador Island, a marine sanctuary within the Masinloc-Oyon Bay Protected Landscape and Seascape, a 7,558.5-hectare protected area where residents have long taken part in mangrove restoration, resource protection, and environmental monitoring.

The protected area includes coral reefs, seagrass beds, and mangrove forests that provide habitats, as well as breeding and nursery grounds, for marine life.

Its marine resources also help support livelihoods of communities in Masinloc.

The substance was believed to be diesel fuel based on its odor and color. INQ