La Union board declares calamity state to deal with oil spill

The provincial board of La Union has declared the province under a state of calamity to enable towns affected by the oil spill supposedly from a sunken vessel or another ship to tap their calamity funds for cleanup operations. La Union Gov. Manuel Ortega said communities, various agencies and nongovernment organizations have been collaborating to remove chunks of hardened oil that have been spotted on La Union beaches. Many believe the oil sludge came from the Myanmar vessel MV Harita Bauxite, which sank off Bolinao town in Pangasinan last week. Others suspect it came from an unidentified cargo vessel, which docked near Bangar town in La Union, on Sunday.