ILOILO CITY -- The inter-governmental organization that provides compensation to oil spill victims has rejected the claims of nearly 133,000 residents of Guimaras and Iloilo in relation to last year's oil spill in Guimaras. The rejected claims include 125,480 in Guimaras and 7, 416 in Iloilo, according to a September 24, 2007 report of the London-based International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund (IOPCF).

The report will be presented to the Fund's executive committee during its meeting on October 15, said IOPCF Claims Manager Capt. Patrick Joseph in an e-mailed letter.

Out of the 125,614 second batch claimants from Guimaras, only 134 were accepted and were offered compensation totaling P1.4 million, according to the report.

The claims were rejected because they were incomplete and a significant number were from people under the age of 18 years, which is the minimum age at which people are allowed to engage in fishing in the country.

The IOPCF had earlier also raised concern over the number of claimants in Guimaras saying it was improbable that the oil spill had affected 80 percent of the island's population of around 154,000.

The Fund has accepted only 8,434 claims out of the 15,850 second batch claimants from municipalities in Iloilo using the same basis in screening the Guimaras claimants.

It rejected 6,090 claims from seaweed farmers and only accepted 299. The Fund said that when they investigated the claims, "it became apparent that a large number of these claimants were not involved in seaweed farming at the time of the incident."

The IOPCF has paid a total of P906,669,648 in compensation for economic losses and refund for expenses in the clean-up and preventive measures in relation to the Aug. 11. 2006 sinking of the M/T Solar I off the coast of Guimaras.

The sinking triggered a massive oil spill after the tanker's cargo of 2.1 million liters of bunker fuel were spilled, contaminating marine resources and dislocating thousands of residents mostly dependent on fishing for their livelihood.

But 80 percent of the IOPCF's payments (P725,317,664) were refunds for clean-up and preventive measures. Only 19 percent (P174,176,143) comprised payment for economic losses in fishery sector and another P2,186,658 for the tourism sector.

The Fund had received claims totaling P2,514,425,538

It paid 22,307 claims amounting to P174,176,143 as compensation for economic losses for Guimaras and Iloilo residents. The Fund also paid P2,186,658 to 57 claimants from the island's tourism sector, and P2,142,301 to 74 claims in property damages.*NPB

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