By CESAR JOLITO III
More than 4,000 fisherfolks in Negros Oriental’s Bais City and Manjuyod town have been affected by a massive fish kill after an ethanol leak from a distillery plant spilled into the Tañon Strait.
The spill devastated the livelihoods of around 2,000 fisherfolks in eight coastal barangays in Bais and another 2,000 from Manjuyod, data from the local governments showed.
Many of them raise milkfish (bangus), rabbitfish (danggit), and grouper (pugapo) in fish cages that were wiped out by the contamination.
According to the Bais City government, the incident occurred after the dike of the distillery plant’s waste lagoon collapsed on Sunday, October 26, causing large volumes of chemical effluent to leak into the sea.
The spill immediately led to widespread fish deaths, with residents reporting foul-smelling and discolored seawater.
Losses
“This is heartbreaking,” said Bais fisherman Pepe Llanera, whose fish pens suffered about P50,000 in losses.
“The water smells foul and makes our skin itch. We appeal to the local government and the company to help us recover,” he added.
Another fisherman, Richard Jamito from Manjuyod, echoed the call for compensation, saying that many families now face uncertainty as their primary source of income vanished overnight.
The disaster has also crippled the tourism industry of both towns — Bais being renowned for whale and dolphin watching, and Manjuyod for its world-famous sandbar.
Both activities have been suspended indefinitely.
Manjuyod Mayor Raffy Andaya issued an executive order temporarily closing the sandbar to visitors, while Bais City Mayor Luigi Marcel Goñi ordered a halt to the operations of the distillery plant pending investigation and rehabilitation.
The company operating the distillery has declined on-camera interviews but released a statement attributing the lagoon collapse to recent ground tremors caused by earthquakes in the Visayas and Mindanao, coupled with days of heavy rain. It has pledged financial assistance to affected fishermen.
Meanwhile, local officials have begun distributing food packs to affected families as national agencies, including the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Environmental Management Bureau and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, conduct water sampling and testing to identify the contaminants.
Bais City Administrator Atty. Romela Mae Lozano-Napao said the local government is committed to holding the distillery accountable for the environmental damage and economic losses.
“We will ensure that proper penalties are imposed and that the company compensates those affected,” she said.
The spill occurred within the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape, the country’s largest marine protected area, raising concerns about long-term ecological damage.
As of this writing, repair works on the collapsed dike are ongoing./CJ, WDJ