Petron welcomes criminal charges
Petron Corporation said Friday that its officials will face the criminal charges filed by a Guimaras official over the oil spill.
"We will not run away. Petron is 40% owned by the Philippines. It is not a multinational company that would just fold up and run away. We will not do that," Petron spokesperson Carlos Tan told The News Today, as he maintained that they have not been remiss in their job.
Before yesterday's press briefing by the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council, Tan declared, "We will face all charges."
Nueva Valencia Mayor Diosdado Gonzaga filed Thursday before the Guimaras Provincial Prosecutor's Office three criminal complaints for violations of the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act against Petron's chairman of the board Nicasio Alcantara, president Khalid Al Faddaqh, vice president for operations Felimon Antiporda and spokesperson Tan; and Clemente Cancio, president of the Sunshine Maritime Development Corporation.
Petron Corporation chartered Solar 1, owned by the SMDC, to transport two million liters of bunker fuel to Zamboanga. The tanker sunk in heavy seas on August 11 off the southern coast of Guimaras, triggering an oil spill that has affected close to 40,000 people, mostly from the towns of Nueva Valencia, Sibunag and San Lorenzo.
It is rather unfortunate, he expressed, that the matter had to go before the courts to resolve the issue.
"But it is a welcome opportunity that we have a legal forum where we could clear ourselves," Tan stressed.
He said that they have yet to receive a subpoena from the Prosecutor's Office directing them to answer the charges."We can't give any specific comment because we have not yet received a copy of the complaint," Tan said. He said that they will just have to wait for the subpoena to be served to them
Although he has an idea of the charges leveled at them, Tan said that the have no idea yet as to how the three environmental laws were violated allegedly by them
But he expressed confidence that they will be able to put up a good defense.
"We have no legal liability all in all, in the oil spill, in the clean up, and in the disposal of the wastes," he maintained.