Position on the Rehabilitation and Accountability for the MT Princess Empress Oil Spill in Oriental Mindoro

For the consideration of the Honorable members of the 12th Sangguinang Panlalawigan of Oriental Mindoro.  

Protect VIP—a coalition of residents, fisherfolk, youth, civil society, and people’s organizations, faith-based and labor groups, and supporting groups convened with the common interest of protecting the Verde Island Passage (VIP)—respectfully presents the following points for discussion and consideration:

Background

On February 28, 2023, MT Princess Empress sank off the coast of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, while carrying approximately 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil. The damage caused to the environment and coastal communities by the oil slick was estimated to amount to at least P41.2 billion worth.[1]

The sinking caused immediate environmental damage and economic disruption across the province. The oil spill resulted in the suspension of fishing activities and significant damage to coastal ecosystems, impacting the primary livelihoods of thousands of residents. Years after the spill, fisherfolk report that yields had not returned to their usual pre-oil spill levels.[2] In 2024, the Oil spill-affected Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the VIP failed the water quality guidelines set by the DENR for oil and grease.[3]

Justice remains elusive for fisherfolk whose lives and livelihoods suffered due to the oil spill. Although some fisherfolk have been compensated, there are others that lament that compensation given by the IOPC is insufficient.

Current Status of Rehabilitation

While the environmental, economic, and public health consequences of the spill are projected to persist for decades,[4] official response efforts prematurely scaled back. Notably, fishing bans were lifted and response teams were demobilized on July 20, 2023- just a month after significant levels of oil and grease were still being detected in Pola, Oriental Mindoro.[5] This cessation of active cleanup has not been met with a transition to long-term restoration and rehabilitation; rather, monitoring of many areas has largely stalled, leaving the affected regions without a comprehensive rehabilitation strategy.

The absence of holistic, sustained rehabilitation programs—coupled with a lack of stringent new measures to mitigate marine pollution in the VIP—raises legitimate concerns regarding persistent contamination. Independent data suggests that affected Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) may still harbor alarming concentrations of oil and grease. As these areas represent the highest concentration of marine species and serve as vital breeding grounds, the lingering effects of the spill continue to jeopardize both marine life and the overall ecosystem integrity of the Verde Island Passage.[6]

Despite the extensive resources and labor already invested in the cleanup, these prior efforts risk being entirely in vain. While the surface may present an appearance of a return to “normalcy”, this recovery is merely a facade. The MT Princess Empress remains a submerged hazard containing an undetermined volume of oil—a persistent threat that could trigger a secondary spill at any moment. There can be no genuine long-term recovery or successful rehabilitation for the Verde Island Passage as long as this vessel remains on the seafloor, as it continues to serve as a constant source of ecological risk.[7]

Class Suit for Compensation

In December 2025, the Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED) and affected local stakeholders filed a landmark compensation case in the Regional Trial Court of Pinamalayan. The case is structured as a class suit under the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases, representing a large group of fisherfolk who share common interests and have suffered collective injuries due to the spill.

Notably, this compensation suit seeks to hold the shipowner (RDC Reield Marine Services), the insurance company of the ship (The Shipowners’ P&I Club), and the charterer (SL Harbor Bulk Terminal Corporation) jointly and severally liable for the extensive damages caused. By naming all three entities, the suit ensures that those who owned, insured, and profited from the vessel’s cargo are held accountable for the full scale of the disaster.

Under Republic Act No. 9483, the prescriptive period for filing claims is three years from the date the damage occurred, setting the deadline on February 28, 2026. As this is a class suit, its filing effectively stalls (tolls) the prescription period for all members of the represented class. This ensures that the right to claim compensation is preserved for all affected fisherfolk, even if the 2026 deadline passes while the case is actively being litigated.

Demands and Recommendations

We define rehabilitation not as simple oil remediation, but as the total restoration of community integrity. This necessitates a multi-dimensional approach to return all affected stakeholders to their original status quo, ensuring that the ecological and economic foundations of their lives are fully repaired. It is recommended that: 

1.      To ensure the future of our coastal resources, rehabilitation efforts must transition from superficial, short-term cleanup operations to a framework of deep ecological restoration. We demand the immediate implementation of a comprehensive, science-based program focused on the active restoration of the 5,185 hectares of affected marine habitats, specifically targeting the recovery of damaged mangroves, coral reefs, and seagrass beds. Furthermore, this process must be supported by the establishment of a 10-year ecological monitoring fund, financed entirely by the responsible parties. This fund is essential to track the long-term recovery of biodiversity and substrate health in Mindoro and its neighboring municipalities, ensuring that the "polluter pays" principle extends to the total restoration of the ecosystem's integrity.

2.      To address the vulnerability of the VIP, we recommend the immediate passage of legislation declaring the VIP a Protected Area under the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System (E-NIPAS) Act, which would provide a permanent statutory framework for its conservation. Furthermore, all available administrative and judicial resources must be prioritized to shield this corridor from further toxic exposure or industrial degradation, ensuring that its delicate marine ecosystems are insulated from the threats posed by maritime negligence and unregulated commercial activity.

3.      We demand a fundamental shift in how maritime disasters are penalized in the Philippines to ensure that accountability is commensurate with the damage inflicted. This requires holding the owners of the MT Princess Empress, the charterers (SL Harbor Bulk Terminal Corp/San Miguel Shipping), and their respective insurers criminally liable for "Ecocide"—the severe, widespread, and long-term destruction of our marine environment. Beyond mere administrative fines, we demand that these responsible parties be held liable for the full cost of rehabilitation, estimated at ₱41.2 billion, rather than allowing them to limit their financial responsibility to the immediate, surface-level cleanup costs typically capped by international funds. True justice necessitates that the polluters bear the entire burden of restoring the ecological debt they have created, ensuring the cost of negligence is never passed on to the affected communities or the Filipino people.

4.      To prevent a recurrence of the February 2023 disaster, we advocate for the implementation of more stringent maritime regulations and the establishment of designated "no-go" zones within ecologically sensitive areas. This necessitates the passage of national legislation and local ordinances that restrict or outright ban vessels carrying toxic or hazardous materials from traversing recognized marine protected areas. Specifically, the marine sanctuaries in Pola, Pinamalayan, and the wider Verde Island Passage must be formally declared as off-limits to hazardous commercial shipping. By permanently diverting commercial routes away from these biodiversity hotspots, we can ensure that these critical ecosystems are no longer subjected to the catastrophic risks posed by high-traffic industrial shipping.

[1] Gaea Katreena Cabico, Mindoro Oil Spill Damage Valued at P41.2B-Report, PhilStar Global (Feb. 26, 2024), https://www.philstar.com/headlines/climate-and-environment/2024/02/26/2336272/mindoro-oil-spill-damage-valued-p412b-report.

[2] Id.

[3] Affected fisherfolk continue bid for justice two years after Verde Island Passage oil spill, Protect VIP.

[4] Beyond Cleaning up the Oil Spill, Asia News Network (Mar. 13, 2023), https://asianews.network/beyond-cleaning-up-the-oil-spill/.

[5] Delfin T. Mallari Jr. & Madonna T. Virola, Protect VIP: Oil Spill Crisis Not yet Over, Inquirer.net (July 25, 2023), https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1806735/protect-vip-oil-spill-crisis-not-yet-over.

[6] Affected fisherfolk continue bid for justice two years after Verde Island Passage oil spill, supra note 3.

[7] Kathleen Magramo, A Sunken Oil Tanker Is Threatening Biodiversity in the Philippines. And It Could Take Months to Contain, CNN World (Apr. 5, 2023), https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/05/asia/philippines-oil-tanker-spill-biodiversity-threat-intl-hnk.