The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) confirmed Monday, March 20, that traces of oil spill suspectedly from the sunken motor tanker (MT) Princess Empress in Oriental Mindoro have already reached Verde Island in Batangas City, threatening one of the country’s primary marine reserves.

The Verde Island Passage (VIP) – which covers Verde Island, Calapan in Oriental Mindoro, and parts of Batangas province – has the “highest concentration of coastal fishes, corals, crustaceans, mollusks, seagrasses, and mangroves,” according to experts from the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UP-MSI). It is also “home to endangered and threatened species such as hawksbill turtle, whale sharks, manta rays, dugongs, humphead wrasses, giant groupers, and giant clams,” the group added.

READ MORE: https://mb.com.ph/2023/3/19/oil-spill-reaches-verde-island-in-batangas-city-as-us-japan-experts-arrive-for-cleanup