IOPC releases P7.6M oil spill claims for 5 coastal municipalities of Iloilo
Presidential Assistant for Western Visayas Raul Banias said the International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC)Fundrecently released a total of P7.6 million to 902 approved claimants from the five coastal municipalities of the province of Iloilo.
Banias said the release may be the last of the releases made by the IOPC as compensation to those who were affected by the oil spill that hit the island province of Guimaras on August 2006 which also caused damages to the neighboring coastal municipalities. The release was made in Concepcion, Iloilo two weeks ago.
Assisted by IOPC's local contact Patricia Amboy, the highest release went to the municipality of Concepcion. The compensation amounted to P6.7 million for 698 approved claimants out of the 5,973 who applied for claims. The claims for the town of Concepcion was made last April 10 to 11, 2008.
Banias said each claims were distributed in the recipient towns. In Ajuy, out of the 7,970 claimants, the IOPC approved 81 who were compensated with P56,184.
The town of Miagao has 1,573 applicants but only 43 were approved and given a total compensation of P141, 226.
Meanwhile, in the town of Dumangas, there were 70 approved claimants from out of the 4,513 applicants. The claimants received a total compensation of P152,184.
The town with the least compensation was Barotac Nuevo where only 10 applicants were approved out of the 581 claims with a total compensation of P44, 888.
Applicants whose compensation claims were rejected filed an appeal. No response has been heard yet from the IOPCF.