MANILA — The Philippine Coast Guard on Tuesday appealed for help to contain a massive oil spill in Oriental Mindoro, which continued to threaten the livelihood of thousands of fishermen and the health of residents.

Given its limited resources, PCG Admiral Artemio Manalo Abu said the coast guard was approaching the issue by order of priority: disperse and recover the oil at sea, protect the shorelines, and clean up the oil if it reaches the shore.

“So 'yung one month time [timeline] na tinatanong, no one can tell. The earliest that we could contain and complete the operations, the better,” Abu said.

MT Princess Empress was carrying 800,000 liters of industrial fuel when it sank in rough seas off Naujan on February 28.

• Oil spill from sunken oil tanker in Mindoro reaches Antique: PCG

The PCG on Tuesday was set to use 6,000 liters of oil dispersant.

“Yung application of oil dispersant it is not applied that easy or kara-kara lang apply agad ng dispersant. May consideration 'yan for us to prevent further damage to environment. Kailangan maingat na maingat tayo sa pag-address natin sa incident na ito kailangan scientific ang approach natin,” Abu said.

(Oil dispersant should not be applied haphazardly. There is a consideration for us to prevent further damage to environment. We should be really careful in addressing this incident, our approach should be scientific.)

The PCG added that a whole-of-nation approach was necessary.

• How Oriental Mindoro oil spill may affect marine ecosystems

“Sama-sama tayo mag-address ng oil spill na 'yan at hindi lang po coast guard 'yan. Bahagi lang po kami niyan. It requires the participation and involvement of everyone. Of course, the local chief executives, we are requesting them to have their full support and kind understanding,” Abu said.

(We should address that together. The coast guard is just part of the effort.)

• DOH issues guidance to protect residents from Mindoro oil spill

The Coast Guard said they it held a coordination meeting with various foreign embassies last March 6, with Japan and the United States expressing their willingness to extend assistance.

“Nalaman nila na we are calling for our national help. Alam nila na nangangailangan pa tayo ng tulong so ang ating panawagan for those who want to participate to help the Filipino people to address the oil spill lahat sila ay ating inaanyayahan… Pwedeng support sa clean up operations like human resource,” Abu said.

(They learned that we are calling for help. We are inviting those who want to participate to help the Filipino people to address the oil spill. Support for the cleanup operations could be in the form of human resource.)

• Tubig-dagat sa Oriental Mindoro na apektado ng oil spill, bagsak sa water standard quality

On March 6, the Norweigian Training Center deployed 40 cadets in Barangay Misong in Pola, Oriental Mindoro to help with the oil spill.

The PCG also advised the private citizens to coordinate with the agency's local head offices if they wished to help.

Watch more News on iWantTFC