'Strange' claims hound IOPCF
Insanity, sleepless nights, hardship, death of a sow and piglets, loss of income of a sari-sari store, loss of beach sediments, hampered transport operation of tricycles and rentals of land used as depository site of collected oil debris.
These are among the strange claims made by the oil spill affected residents from Nueva Valencia, Guimaras from the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund (IOPCF) which the latter quickly denied for being inadmissible.
A source from the IOPCF told this writer that a claim form submitted to the Fund by a male claimant attested that he suffered "insanity, sleepless nights and hardship" when they were evacuated from their barangay. The same claim form was not attested and verified by the claimant's barangay captain. As a rule, every claim should be verified by the barangay official.
One claimant also wants the Fund to pay him some P20,000 for his sow and 15 piglets. It was written in his claim form that the sow and the piglets died because of the oil spill. Again, the claimant has no documentary proof to back up his compensation claim. The claimant argued that the death of his pigs could be considered as "property damage."
Another claimant said he lost his income in his sari-sari store for three years because of the oil spill. When checked, the sari-sari store do not cater to tourists who are visiting the island but to the locals. No records of purchases and store transactions were presented. Besides, the oil spill happened only last August 11, 2006.
Likewise, a claimant wants the Fund to pay for the "lost sand, gravel, rocks and other beach sediments" taken from the shores of Nueva Valencia when Petron ordered the clean-up operation in areas affected by the oil sludge. The claimant based his environmental damage claim on the number of sacks of oily debris collected by Petron.
A group of tricycle drivers also asked payment from the Fund for their "economic loss." They claimed that they had few passengers particularly the foreigners because of the oil spill.
Some land owners is also asking the Fund to pay them the "rental" for their property after it was used as depository site of the collected oil debris. There are some properties in the island which was contracted by Petron to be used as depository site pending the arrival of the barges to transport the debris and all the wastes collected during the clean-up operation.
According to Joe Nichols, IOPCF Deputy Director/Technical Advisor, the claims of insanity, sleepless nights, hardships are considered psychological in nature and are not related to property damage. The claims are considered "inadmissible" under the organization's policy. The Fund primarily pays for the property damage.
Nichols said they have also encountered such claims in Korea. The Fund won in the legal battle at the lower court. Then, the claimants brought the case to the Appellate Court after they lost. The Appellate Court favored the claimants in its ruling. However, the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Appellate Court and favored the Fund. It was a landmark decision which was later used by the Fund in all compensation claims filed before their office.
On the case of the dead pigs, Nichols was smiling on how the claimant was able to conceive such idea. "If the claimant can prove that the death of the pigs are caused by oil spill and it falls under the property damage, then the Fund is going to pay him, " said Nichols.
On the case of sari-sari store and tricycle drivers, Nichols said these are the types of livelihood which are not directly relying on tourists but on locals. "The Fund is very generous when it comes to compensation claims. However, the claim should be based on the contamination it caused to the affected areas which resulted to damage," Nichols said.
While, on the loss of sand, stone, rocks and other beach sediments, Nichols said the claimant does not own the shore. The cleaning method employed by Petron is manual and the area has its ability for natural recovery. It is exaggerated and it's one claim that the Fund will never pay, said Nichols.
On the claims for land rentals, the claimant should produce a contract on who made the transaction with them. "It is a reasonable claim on the part of the land owner. However, there is no reason for the land owners to file for claims if Petron has already paid them of the rental fees," Nichols said.
Nichols said those who made such peculiar claims would be notified that what they are claiming are admissible. The Fund will let them know of the decision why their claims are junked.
Further, Nichols disclosed that the Fund has traced a number of false claims and double claims along the way. Nichols refused to give details on who among the claimants made fraudulent claims to the Fund especially on the fishery and tourism sectors. However, he assured that the Fund has exercised measures to detect false and fraudulent claims.
Nevertheless, Nichols said most of the Guimarasnons who filed their claims are "honest." The Fund are satisfied with the data they provided. The same reason why their claims were immediately approved and consequently checks were released to them.
The Fund hopes to finish the releasing of the checks on January 2007. Currently, they are processing 60 claims per hour. We wanted to pay all of them by the end of January, said Nichols.