SAN SALVADOR ISLAND, Zambales—At first glance, 60-year-old Fernando Avilla looked like he had been spearfishing for some time as he rested with his gear in his wooden boat. It was not fish in his net though but bits of coal he had retrieved underwater. 

Avila and most fishermen on San Salvador Island off Masinloc, Zambales, had suspended fishing that day to utilize another livelihood skill—diving—as volunteers. They were to collect coal that fell into the sea as a community-driven clean-up drive resumed last week. 

On Thursday, Nov. 21, however, provincial health officials issued an advisory to inform the public to avoid swimming and other activities in the affected waters. 

Exposure can pose serious health risks, such as itching and having skin rashes, redness and infection in the eyes, difficulty in breathing from coal dust inhalation, and even wounds, according to Dr. Noel Bueno, head of the Provincial Health Office (PHO). 

Bueno said arsenic and mercury in coal can cause lasting health effects if swallowed or absorbed by the body, while coal debris can cause physical damage.

Children, pregnant women and those with existing health conditions are more at risk, he said.

A barge carrying some 11,000 metric tons of coal ran aground on Oct. 24 in one of the fish sanctuaries near the island due to strong waves and winds brought by severe tropical storm “Kristine.” The ill-fated MV Katapatan 2, owned by SMC Shipping and Lighterage Corp., was headed for La Union from the coal-producing Semirara Island in Antique.

Nearly a month after the incident, there were still no available reports of environmental damage in the area, a marine sanctuary inside the Masinloc Oyon Bay Protected Seascape and Landscape (MOBPLS).

But fishermen who have been diving for the fossil fuel observed that the corals that the barge hit were crushed, and some of the fish, shells and starfish were dead.

“It’s depressing, they’re damaged. Maybe this was also because of past typhoons, the impact of the coal spill, and now we’re involved in cleaning up the sea bottom where corals have been destroyed,” Edna Sarmiento, leader of the San Salvador Biodiversity Friendly Association, said in Filipino.

She said 85% of the one hectare of healthy mangroves that were planted in 2022 near the site was destroyed. The tragedy, she added, has disrupted life and livelihood on the island.

Recovery efforts

At least 17,747 sacks of coal had been recovered as of Wednesday, Nov. 20. Like Avila, many fishermen received a go-ahead from authorities for them to dive and collect coal last Friday, Nov. 15. Others picked up the bits swept ashore.

They were not sure of compensation for their volunteer work, however. But they know that they should help resume their clean-up activities after they observed that the bits of coal were already getting crushed or crumbling. Retrieval might be more difficult and take longer in that state, they said.

Results of water quality tests conducted in compliance with safety protocols will be known in 12 to 15 days, according to Olive Gregorio, head of the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office.

Bueno said coal contains chemicals that are toxic and those are gastric irritants that can cause diarrhea or, worse, death, if people drank much of the contaminated water. It may also cause skin irritations and allergic reactions, he said.

This is why as much as possible, it is better if the water quality is tested first before they continue the cleanup, he explained.

“PHO can do the water testing, but ours is more on bacteriologic examination. At least we can find out bacteria presence. It’s even easier because it only takes 24 hours to get the results, Bueno said in Filipino.

The Masinloc local government has tapped other agencies for assistance, he said, adding that the PHO is not engaged in rehabilitation. But his office, he said, was seeking out reports last week and was scheduling an inspection of the coastal area in the coming days.

“Noong sinabi nila na pwede na ulit mamulot, bumalik na kami para tumulong. Pangatlong araw na namin ngayon” (When they said we could pick again, we returned here to help. It’s our third day today), said Avila.

Compensation

Cmdr. Euphraim Jayson Diciano, chief of the Philippine Coast Guard station in Zambales, a lead agency on response and rehabilitation, said there was already an agreement that those who participate in manual coal collection will be paid P300 per day plus P10 per kilogram of coal they gather.

Each family in San Salvador will also receive P500 per day from the time of the grounding of the barge until the completion of the shoreline clean-up, Diciano said. 

The accumulated coal will be temporarily placed in the Masinloc coal-fired thermal power plant in Barangay Bani, he said. 

According to residents, despite the regular transport of coal to the Bani plant, the Katapatan 2 grounding was the first time that happened in the area.

Environmentalists believe that even if the spilled coal was not intended for the Masinloc facility, the barge incident would likely be repeated in the future, especially if the plant’s expansion pushes through. 

Lawyer Rose Liza Eisma-Osorio, legal and policy director of Oceana Philippines, said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) should not allow the expansion, considering its direct impact on the marine sanctuaries within MOBPLS.

“If they expand, there will be an increase in vessel traffic going to the area carrying coal,” she said.

Coal plant opposition

For fisherman Leonardo Cuaresma, what is happening now was among the reasons the community fought hard against the construction of the coal plant in Bani more than three decades ago.

The coal plant was built in 1998 by the government and operated by National Power Corp. (Napocor) through a $2-million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Export-Import Bank of Japan. It was sold to the US-based AES Corp. following the passage of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act and became the first privatized power plant in the country. 

It is now owned by Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd (MPPCL), a unit of SMC Global Power Holdings Inc. that operates three units of the power plant. The company is planning to put up two more generating units to increase power generation by 1,578 megawatts (MW).

Cuaresma, now the president of the New Masinloc Fishermen Association, said that many have renewed their opposition now that the expansion of the coal plant is ongoing. 

Last Friday, some residents, together with their supporters led by the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), staged a protest on the mainland to reiterate their call to stop the operations of fossil fuel power plants and fight against climate injustice. The move was part of simultaneous protests in fossil fuel-affected communities in other parts of the country to urge world leaders at the Climate Summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, for bolder climate actions to prevent the relentless march of global warming above 1.5 Celsius.

In a joint statement, PMCJ and the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD) said that burning fossil fuel is a major culprit to global warming and detrimental harm to lives, health, livelihood, environment, and economy.

PMCJ Luzon coordinator Erwin Puhawan said the coal spill in Masinloc is just one of the many incidents that communities in the province experienced with the coal-fired power plant in their area. 

“Their decades-long struggle happens as other areas in Luzon such as Bataan, Batangas, and other provinces invigorate each other’s voices fighting for the same cause: End fossil fuels, hold the perpetrators accountable, and push for clean energy,” Puhawan said.

Read more: Locals clean up coal spill in Zambales fish sanctuary