Dear Editor,
The digital and social media space has been saturated with commentaries and news articles about the catastrophic oil spill from the sunken tanker MT Princess Empress that was carrying 900,000 liters of industrial oil.
Much has been said about the devastation wrought on local residents’ health, livelihood, and tourism in Oriental Mindoro by the tanker’s illegal voyage on the sea.
Every day, new actors and talking heads surface spilling new revelations or recycled ones. Name it, the casting is almost complete with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the Philippine Coast Guard, the Maritime Industry Authority, local government officials, fisherfolk, environmental groups, marine experts, legislators, disaster risk reduction and management officials, MT Princess Empress owners, and other bit players.
There is one, however, who has not come out to shed light. Why hasn’t the owner of the 900,000 liters of bunker oil joined the cast? Being the mother company of SL Harbor Bulk Terminal Corporation, which chartered the RDC Reield Marine Services-owned MT Princess Empress, San Miguel Corporation’s SMC Shipping and Lighterage is considered a lead player in this “true-to-life” movie.
The public cannot take its eyes off SMC. It has been in the limelight in the past several months for its anti-consumer move of withdrawing from an electricity supply contract with the Manila Electric Company.
Still reeling from the high cost of electricity as a result of SMC’s withdrawal from its power supply agreement, Filipinos are again witnessing another controversy involving the conglomerate that is popular for producing one of the best beers in the world.
There are many questions awaiting answers. People hunger for enlightenment. Why did the one and only Senate hearing on the oil spill in early March evade discussion on the bunker oil charterer?
A serious debate over a massive oil spill deserves the most attention from our honorable solons, not a whitewash laced with bank notes.
Resty Jubilla
Resjub707@gmail.com