News Roundup 12 March 2023
Mar 12, 2023 • 4 min Read
What happens when oil enters mangrove environments? | PHILSTAR.COM – POLA, Oriental Mindoro — The oil spilled by sunken MT Princess Empress has reached the mangroves in Pola, Oriental Mindoro, raising fears from environment advocates and experts that this could affect the survival of the vital coastal habitat.
Oil-covered mangroves were seen in Barangay Calima in Pola, the town hardest hit by the oil spill.
The University of the Philippines-Marine Science Institute earlier estimated that 20,000 hectares of coral reef, 9,900 hectares of mangroves and 6,000 hectares of seagrass in Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Palawan and Antique could be harmed by the oil spill.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources also said the oil spill could affect 21 marine protected areas.
What happens when oil enters a mangrove environment?
In August 2006, MT Solar 1, hired by Petron Corporation, sank off the coast of Guimaras and leaked over 2.1 million liters of bunker fuel into the sea. It is considered the worst oil spill in the country’s history.
A study of scientists Abner Barnuevo and Resurreccion Sadaba found that acute effects of the oil spill include defoliation of leaves and mortality, while long-term effects involve appearance of albino propagules manifested in Rhizophora stylosa and reduction in canopy cover and leaf sizes.
Mangrove botanist Genea Nichole Cortez explained that mangroves survive in salty, low-oxygen tidal environments because of their pneumatophores or “breathing roots.” If their specialized roots are blocked by waxy substances such as oil, the adaptation of mangroves will be limited and they could die.
She added that mangroves such as Sonneratia alba or pagatpat have glands in their leaves that remove excessive salt.
“We must remember that leaves are sites where plants create their own food. Hence, if covered with oil, it will also compromise their survival,” Cortez told Philstar.com.
Full Story at: What happens when oil enters mangrove environments? | Philstar.com
Fire razes parts of Baguio City Public Market | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Fire hit parts of the Baguio City Public Market before midnight, with the initial cost of damage reaching around P24 million, the city public information office said on Sunday.
According to the city government, the fire started at around 11 p.m. razed “the entire Block 4 and most of Block 3, and the caldero section.”
Authorities declared “fire out” at 4:38 a.m.
Supt. Marisol Odiver, Baguio City’s fire marshal, said the fire originated at “the wagwagan section near the chicken livestock” in Block 4 extension.
The market is open except for the burned areas.
Full Story at: Fire razes parts of Baguio City Public Market | Philstar.com
No numbers to push charter change in Senate – Zubiri | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Saturday poured cold water on a move to amend or revise the Constitution, saying it did not have enough senators to back it up, especially since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself wasn’t supporting charter change.
“The truth is, we don’t really have the numbers even though I want to push that,” he said in a radio interview. “It will still require three-fourths, or at least 18 votes. Almost half of the senators I talked to are against charter change.”
Zubiri made the statement as the Senate committee on constitutional amendments, chaired by Sen. Robin Padilla, embarked on a nationwide “consultation caravan” by conducting hearings in the cities of Davao, Baguio, and Cebu.
He doubted that the effort would eventually lead to the passage of a law to establish either a constituent assembly or a constitutional convention to change the 36-year-old Constitution.
Full Story at: No numbers to push charter change in Senate – Zubiri | Inquirer News
Bodies of Isabela plane crash victims retrieved | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — The remains of the pilot and five passengers of the ill-fated Cessna plane that crashed in Isabela have been retrieved, the provincial public information announced on Sunday.
“As of 12:54pm today, the bodies of the pilot and passengers have arrived at Divilacan proper,” the Isabela PIO said.
“The Air Force is waiting for a break in the weather to deploy a chopper to transport said bodies to Cauayan,” it added.
In an earlier advisory, the local government said that responding teams began their journey to retrieve the bodies, located in the mountainous and forested area in Divilacan, at around 6:00 a.m.
In a separate statement, Isabela Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC) head Constante Forando Jr. said that the bodies are expected to arrive in Cauayan by Monday.The said aircraft was first reported missing on January 23, with authorities only discovering the wreckage almost two months later on March 9.
