The Department of Health is monitoring the quality of drinking water in Oriental Mindoro amid the massive oil spill in the province that has since spread to other areas.
The meeting was presided by Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno, OCD Administrator, at the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Operations Center in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. During the meeting, it was bared that the DOH has been monitoring the quality of drinking water in Oriental Mindoro following the sinking of motor tanker MT Princess Empress off Naujan town on Feb. 28, and the consequent leakage of 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil that it was carrying.
The symptoms experienced by the patients ranged from abdominal pain, chest pain, lower bowel movement , and vomiting among others but all of them have already recovered. Nonetheless, Alejandro noted that the DOH has already provided “health commodities, supplies, and services” to the affected areas.40,897 families or 193,436 individuals in Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Antique, and Batangas as of April 21.Meanwhile, Alejandro said that DA-BFAR will provide a complete set of data results on fish testing in oil spill-affected areas by the second week of May.
The PCG, for its part, said that it will continue its joint shoreline surveys and analysis of the findings of remotely operated vehicle during underwater inspections to drain the leaking oil from the sunken motor tanker Princess Empress.