Miag-ao oil spill claimants want dialog with Garin
Oil spill damage claimants in Miag-ao town have denounced first district Rep. Janette Garin for saying that irregularities marred the filing and payment of claimants of residents affected by the Petron oil spill.
In a manifesto passed on June 12, members of the Miag-ao Municipal Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (MFARMC) denied Garin's allegations that came out in a news story of The News Today, that fraudulent claims were made which had no verification aside from the recommendation of politicians.
Around 523 beneficiaries in Miag-ao received around P1.7 million in compensation for damages incurred from the oil spill.
The claimants said they "underwent rigid screening" by the office of the municipal agriculturist and have submitted sufficient documents and requirements to prove that they were victims of the oil spill.
They also pointed out that the claims were processed before the election period and the signing of Miag-ao Mayor Gerardo Flores was only "incidental."
The claimants claimed it was Garin who made the compensation process "a political gimmick".
Garin's statements were contained in an e-mail she sent to Hugh Bayley, a member of the United Kingdom House of Commons.
She named Flores, outgoing Dumangas Mayor Rolando Distura and then provincial board member Niel Tupas Jr. as among the politicians who were recommending the claimants.
She also accused personnel of the International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) Fund of allowing the alleged scam to happen because of "wanton laziness" in verifying the claims and of tolerating "barbaric political gimmickry".
Garin's allegations were earlier refuted by IOPC Director Willem Oosterveen.
The IOPC is an inter-governmental organization which provides compensation to oil spill victims.
The claimants said in their manifesto that Garin's actions "jeopardized the chances for claims of some 2,000 additional victims." They also ask Garin for a dialog in the presence of members of the media.
Garin said she was willing to dialog with the Miag-ao claimants but stood by her allegations.
She maintained that the compensation claims were used for political purposes from the identification of recipients to the distribution of payments.
Garin said the processing and payments of claimants during the election period went against the agreement reached in a meeting of Iloilo representatives, Petron officials, Presidential Adviser for Western Visayas Rafael Coscolluela with President Macapagal Arroyo.
She said they agreed that the payments for Iloilo claimants will be made after the elections to avoid it being influenced by partisan politics.
Only claimants from Miag-ao and Oton towns were able to receive compensation because the other coastal towns in the First District moved back their filing of claims to after the elections, said Garin.
She said the claimants in Oton were given priority because they were the worst affected in the district.
Garin said, she issued the statement because the country's reputation is at stake in the receipt of assistance from foreign agencies.
"I came out in the open because we need to be transparent," Garin told The News Today in a telephone interview.