Hello everyone.
As most of you know, tragedy struck last Friday when two sea vessels collided off the Cebu City coast near the SRP. While the initial loss of life, which was more than 60 as of this writing, is devastating enough, now the province is faced when an even bigger problem.
One of the cargo vessels involved in the accident, the M/V St Tomas Aquinas, is now leaking oil from its ruptured reserves and tanks. All in all the ship was loaded with 120,000 litters of bunker oil; 20,000 litters of diesel; and 20,000 litters of lube oil.
While efforts are under way to help control the spread of the oil, the spill has already affected residents of Barangays Alegria, Bangbang, Buagsong, Catarman, Cogon, Dapitan, Day-as, Gabi, Ibabao, Pilipog, Poblacion and San Miguel. Hardest hit are the mangrove areas and the eel (Bakasi) farms. The fisher folk have been unable to catch anything edible from the seas the past few days, affecting not just their livelihood but their primary food source as well.
In line with this, the Cebu Shooters Guild, in coordination with the Central Visayas Fisherfolk Development Center Inc. (FIDEC) as well as the LGUs of Cordova is looking for volunteers to help in the clean-up drive of the coasts of the affected barangays in Cordova.
As of now, CSG and FIDEC are still awaiting instructions from DENR on how to coordinate their efforts. Along this line, we are asking for commitments from our friends in the community to volunteer for the clean-up or to donate materials for it. We will be updating this event post once we get from DENR the list of things needed.
If you are interested, please comment below the dates when you are available so we could include you on the list of volunteers.
For donations, you may contact Owen of FIDEC at
0923 825 0105 so you could arrange to drop off your donations at their office.
For further questions or clarifications, please post them below or you may contact me directly at
0922 935 8385 or email me via
bluepax@cebushootersguild.org. You can also check the Facebook event page here
https://www.facebook.com/events/150597401806655/
Thank you for your time, please invite also your friends and families. Let’s all do our best to help save our natural resources!
Sincerely,
Hendrix Valmoria
Cebu Shooters Guild
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Hello everyone, just got back from cordova. Will post a full report later regarding the efforts we did today, i just really need to rest for a bit.
To those going there tomorrow (sunday), please proceed directly to brgy day-as. There is a command center in front of the entrance to Lantaw. Ask for sir Francisco Villalobos or Precious Zamora and tell them you are from One For Cordova. We already told them that there are more coming. Ask them what you could do to help and they'll assign you a task.
If you need help just text me.UPDATE Aug 22 9PM:
Hello everyone!
I just got back from a meeting with Parkmall representatives as well as other stakeholders. Due to the large number of individuals, organizations, and even companies willing to help out we have decided to formalize this clean-up drive as an alliance to make it easily identifiable. In addition, the long term goals of our effort makes it practical to have a formal alliance.
We have decided to call the alliance One For Cordova (OFC), and the hashtag is
#1forsea
There will be a press conference on Monday, August 26, at the Parkmall to formally introduce the alliance. Included in the press conference will be representatives from organizations, sectors, and companies as well as residents from Cordova who will talk about their situation there.
The presscon aims to impart the message that OFC is an alliance coming from a broad spectrum of Cebu, cutting across all levels of society from the fisherfolk to young professionals to business people to large companies, to stand united in helping Cordova and protecting our marine resources.
Our long-term goals of education, awareness, and rehabilitation will be carried on by the alliance.
In behalf of the organizers, I thank everyone for all the help and support shown so far. This Saturday, let's show the world that Cebu is One For Cordova! Don't forget to use our hashtag and share to your friends.
Our logo
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EYES HERE (August 22 UPDATE):
This clean-up drive is broken down into two phases because the incident has both immediate and long-term needs.
Short-term goal: The efforts of the coast guard as well as professional divers to plug the leak have been unsuccessful so far due to unfavorable sea and weather conditions. Every hour gallons of oil pour out into the sea, further damaging marine life as well as presenting a hazard to human health. All we could do for now is to lessen the buildup of the oil slick along the coasts in the hopes that damage would be minimized. This is our immediate goal, the details of which are as follows:
- Meeting time: 9am
- Meeting place: Cordova Municipal Hall (We need to coordinate with the command center as they will be the one to assign us an area)
- What to bring (personal): Protective equipment such as rubber boots, gloves, face masks, and hats or raincoats (depending on the weather); food/snacks and plenty of water; enough money for transportation and contingency; wear sensible clothes such as pants and long-sleeved shirts; additional clothes and face towels;
- Contact numbers – 0922 935 8385 and 0923 825 0105 (once you arrive at the municipal hall text us or look for anyone wearing a grey Cebu Shooters Guild cap)
The Coast Guard and other military units lack personal protective equipment (PPE). But for those who can’t bring their own PPE don’t worry. This tragedy has many other equally pressing aspects other than the buildup of oil. Thus, we might be assigned other tasks such as helping distribute relief goods to residents, manpower for the feeding program, and other social work.
We have had initial talks with Parkmall Cebu if they could provide some PPE for us. We will be meeting with their representatives tonight and we will update you afterwards. They have already assigned a drop off area in front of the mall for donations as well as oil boom materials.
Long-term goal:
Some of the organizers have had first-hand experience in the oil spill that happened in Guimaras a few years ago. Until now, rehabilitation of marine conditions is still ongoing there.
We are expecting the same to happen here in Cebu. Already, hundreds of hectares of mangrove forest have been affected, and several young mangroves have died already due to suffocation. The marine life too is near to useless. The eel farms that produce the local delicacy called Bakasi, which is a favorite not just of tourists but locals as well, has been severely affected.
In light of this, the long-term goal of this campaign is as follows:
- Promotion and education campaign – we need to raise the awareness of everyone in Cebu because this affects not just the residents of Cordova but businesses as well who really on the tourism aspect of Corodova. What’s more, the slick could spread to Cebu City as well if the sea currents shift. Through an education campaign we can get more people to help and donate to the cause.
- Social work – the livelihood of the residents of 12 barangays have been affected. We need to tie-up with government departments as well as concerned organizations and companies to do what we can for the residents.
- Accountability – we also need to press for the accountability of the parties involved in the sea mishap, and have them answer to their responsibilities to the affected areas and families.
- Rehabilitation – this could take months. Constant monitoring of the toxicity levels of the surround waters need to be done before proper rehabilitation could be started. We are thinking of starting a mangrove planting drive in the coming months as well as helping the fisherfolk re-establish their eel farms.
A presscon organized by Parkmall Cebu will be held this weekend to jump start the education campaign.
The entire endeavor may seem daunting, but ever since I organized this last Monday I have seen how Cebuanos could unite in tragedies like this. To use a popular meme term, faith in humanity restored!
This is it for now. Please post your questions, comments, or suggestions below.
Thanks everyone, stay united Cebu!
Inviting everyone: Clean-up drive of the oil spill in Cordova
"People who love to eat are always the BEST people."
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