Fisherfolk class suit on Verde Island Passage oil spill moves forward

A class suit filed by fisherfolk to seek accountability for the 2023 oil spill in the Verde Island Passage made strides on Tuesday after the Regional Trial Court in Pinamalayan granted their motion for reconsideration of an earlier court order mandating petitioners to pay filing fees amounting to over half a million pesos. 

The class suit filed last December 9, 2025 sees dozens of fisherfolk from Calapan, Pinamalayan, and Pola – areas that were the most heavily affected by the oil spill – seek from MT Princess Empress shipowner RDC Reield Marine Services, Inc, charterer and San Miguel Corporation subsidiary SL Harbor Bulk Terminal Corporation, the Shipowners’ Mutual Indemnity and Protection Association, and the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds compensation that is reflective of the true extent of damages to the fisherfolk and their livelihoods. The case represents fisherfolks across multiple coastal communities who suffered losses in livelihood and long-term ecological damage following the disaster.

Originally allowed to be filed without fees due to its environmental nature, a January 5 order from the same court retracted this and mandated petitioners to pay “in consideration of the fact that this is a case for collection of actual and compensatory damages.”

“Nakalulungkot na kinailangan pang maghain ng Motion for Reconsideration ng mga mangingisda bago madinig ang mga hinaing namin. Tatlong taon na kaming nagdurusa mula nang mangyari ang oil spill. Marami sa amin ay hindi pa rin nakakabangon at patuloy na nalulubog sa utang. Kung tuluyan kaming pinagbayad ng kalahating milyong piso para lang maipaglaban ang karapatan namin, para na rin kaming pinagkaitan ng hustisya,” said Aldrin Villanueva, fisherfolk and president of Koalisyon ng mga Mangingisdang Apektado ng Oil Spill (KMAOS). 

[“It is disheartening that fisherfolks had to file a Motion for Reconsideration just for our pleas to be heard. Three years after the oil spill, many of us are still trying to recover while sinking deeper into debt. If we were forced to pay half a million pesos just to defend our rights, it would have  been the same as denying us justice,” said Aldrin Villanueva, fisherfolk and president of Koalisyon ng mga Mangingisdang Apektado ng Oil Spill (KMAOS)]

In their motion, the fisherfolk petitioners argued that the payment of filing fees should be deferred, noting that the case falls under environmental litigation as it invokes the Oil Pollution Compensation Act of 2007, a key Philippine environmental law. Under the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases, the payment of fees in such cases may be deferred. The court granted the request after finding the motion meritorious.

“Isang munting tagumpay na ng pagsasama-sama ng mga mangingisda ang resultang ito ng hearing. Patuloy ang laban namin para panagutin ang mga may sala sa oil spill na iyon at para ipagtanggol ang karagatin namin. Hindi na dapat maulit pa ang ganitong delubyo sa Mindoro at sa kabuuan ng VIP,” said Villanueva.

[“The outcome of the hearing is a victory from the collective efforts of fisherfolks. Our fight continues to hold those responsible for the oil spill accountable and to defend our seas. This kind of disaster must never happen again in Mindoro and across the Verde Island Passage,” said Villanueva.] 

While the court’s acceptance of the Motion for Reconsideration allows the case to move forward, petitioners and environmental advocates said the situation exposes how difficult it remains for marginalized communities to access justice.

“The court’s decision to accept the Motion for Reconsideration to allow the deferment of filing fees is an important step, but it also reveals deeper inequalities in our justice system,” said Fr. Edwin Gariguez, lead convenor of Protect VIP. “Fisherfolk who already are victims of an environmental disaster should not appeal just to be heard in court while large corporations have the resources to avoid accountability.”

Despite compensation disbursed by the IOPC, fisherfolk petitioners and their supporters say the amount remains far from sufficient to address the scale of damages to livelihoods, coastal communities, and marine ecosystems in the VIP, a marine corridor scientifically recognized as the “center of the center” of global marine shorefish biodiversity.

“The communities affected by the oil spill continue to bear the burden of an environmental disaster they did not cause,” said Gerry Arances, Executive Director of the Center of the Energy, Ecology and Development (CEED). “The justice system must ensure that those responsible for environmental destruction are held fully accountable and not make it harder for affected communities to bring their case forward.”

The motion for reconsideration and the class suit itself represents a crucial moment in the fight of Filipino fisherfolks and coastal communities to hold polluters accountable and demand genuine rehabilitation of the Verde Island Passage.

“For the fisherfolk of Mindoro, this case is more than compensation. It is about dignity and justice,” Gariguez said. “The communities whose livelihoods were destroyed deserve a justice system that works for them.”