Guimaras vulnerable to disasters – OCD

The island province of Guimaras is vulnerable to disasters because it is surrounded by waters, according to Director Jose Roberto Nuñez of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Region 6. “We have to protect and see to it that ‘yung mga nangyari before ay hindi na mauulit. Ang mga kababayan natin dito sa Guimaras mostly sa shoreline. So kapag may mga incidents, mahihirapan talaga lalo na kung mayroon tayong mga evacuations,” Nuñez said during a cleanup in Guimaras on July 15. One such incident was in August 2006 when Guimaras was devastated by a massive oil spill from the sunken MT Solar 1 spilling 2.1 million liters of bunker fuel in the island. Hundreds of Guimarasnons were displaced economically and their health suffered.