From living water to toxic sludge: the Philippine island devastated by an oil spill – a photo essay
I t is a beautiful sunny day on Mindoro island but a nauseating stench fills the air and black sludge covers the beaches and rockpools. The cause? A massive oil spill off the eastern coast of the island, from the tanker Princess Empress, carrying 800,000 litres of industrial fuel oil when it sank on 28 February.
The resultant oil slick, stretching for 75 miles, threatens hundreds of fishing communities near Pola, as well as biodiversity in more than 20 marine protected areas.
Vicente Madera Jr’s livelihood from fishing is under threat from the oil spilled from the MT Princess Empress, which capsized in February
The Philippine maritime authorities located the wreck this week and a state of disaster has been declared for nine districts in Oriental Mindoro province. In the village of Buhay na Tubig, which translates as “living water”, locals like fisherman Vicente Madera Jr have seen their income disappear.
With five children and a wife who works as a classroom volunteer, Madera, 49, does not know where to turn. The lack of food is a constant worry, as fish was the mainstay of their daily meals. Now, they eat vegetables and their remaining livestock.
Thick black oil clings to the shoreline at Buhay na Tubig, near Pola, in Oriental Mindoro
The number of families affected in the province stands at 21,000. People who rely on the sea are struggling to make ends meet, the oil spill affecting local businesses and tourism as well as daily life.
Madera’s neighbour, Elenor Pabula, says: “We used to have fish every day, but now we’re lucky if we can get some vegetables from our garden. It’s the children we are actually worried about.
“We can’t give them vegetables every day, and now we have no money to give them for their daily allowance
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