It was eight years ago when the oil tanker “M/T Solar I” sank off Nueva Valencia town on August 11, 2006, spilling one-fourth of its two million liters of bunker oil cargo, but some of the residents adversely affected have yet to receive compensation for damages incurred. Taking up the cudgels for fishermen, boat owners, fish vendors, resort operators, and everybody else with pending compensation claims, Nueva Valencia’s Mayor Emmanuel C. Galila has written a letter to President Benigno Aquino III seeking his intercession. The letter is reproduced in today’s editorial. To recall, “M/T Solar I” was transporting oil owned by Petron Corp. from the latter’s refinery plant to Zamboanga City when it sank off Guimaras Strait, immediately polluting the sea water with spilled oil.

Vego, H. (2014, August 7). Mayor seeks PNoy help over 8-year-old spill. Panay News, pp. 1, 12.