President Gloria Mapacagal Arroyo was in Guimaras for the third time in a month’s time yesterday to preside over a meeting of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) on the government’s response to the giant oil spill caused by the ill-fated vessel, M/T Solar I.
he President’s flurry of activities for Guimaras came only after local officials raised an uproar over the slow reaction of Petron Corp. and national agencies in containing the oil spill and carrying out relief operations to assist fisherfolk whose livelihood was disrupted.
It was only after 11 days that the President declared the oil spill as a national calamity and visited the affected areas.
Unfortunately, the President seems to be more interested in applying cosmetics on the situation to downplay the impact of the problem.
For instance, she ordered that the accident no longer be referred to as the Guimaras oil spill, but the “Solar oil spill.”
Her justification: Let’s not give Guimaras a bad name by relating it to the oil spill. It’s as if she can will the problem to go away by just saying so.
She also spent a night at a beach resort to show tourists that not the whole of Guimaras was affected. Then she found out that the beach was reached by the oil spill, only that cleaning up operations had been made.
She blew her top!
Why was she brought to the place? Well, it’s her fault. She wanted to go to a nice resort, and the nice resorts were badly hit by the oil spill.
Right now, government seems to have no firm direction on what needs to be done about the sunken vessel which still contains a load of 1.8 million liters of bunker fuel.
This is an ecological time bomb that could trigger a much bigger problem if that bunker fuel is not removed from the bed of the sea.
Why is President Arroyo more concerned about the image of Guimaras? The problem is the oil spill and the bunker fuel still in the cargo holds of the M/T Solar I. What is she going to do with that? What is she doing with the people who are getting sick? How will she provide livelihood for the fishermen?
The President should stop her practice of running the affairs of government through press releases and photo-ops. She should exercise leadership. She should place responsibility where it should fall. This could be her defining moment. Action is what we need. Not just posed photographs and empty orders.
