By Ruth Rodriguez
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, (PNA) -– The Palawan Council for Sustainable Development has alerted the Philippine Coast Guard in Batangas province to be vigilant and not allow MT Glenn Australia sail from the port.
The PCSD, the highest policy-making body in Palawan on environment and development, is preventing the tankship from leaving Philippine territorial waters because it has not yet paid the damages to the coral it caused when it ran aground 600 meters off the shoreline of Barangay Panlaitan, Busuanga on August 24.
Owned by Glenn Defense Asia Limited based in Singapore, the MT Glenn Australia was loaded with palm oil on its way to Hongkong when it ran aground passing through Busuanga due to a tempestuous weather condition.
PCSD Staff information officer Alex Marcaida said the incident caused damage to around 900 square meters of corals in Panlaitan that would take generations to revive.
Marcaida said the management of the tanker vessel has already been informed of the need to convert the damages to cash following the example of how much the Tubbataha Management Office is trying to collect from the U.S. Navy and the owner of F/V Min Long Yu.
The figure given on destroyed corals, said Marcaida, was from the assessment team composed of marine experts from the Western Philippines University.
MT Glenn Australia would have to pay P12,000 per square meter of damaged corals.
Although they allowed the tanker vessel to leave the Busuanga area, Marcaida said it is not allowed to leave the country without settling the damages.
“The owner is cooperating when we communicated with them, and they said they are willing to pay up the damages,” he said.