LIMAY, Bataan — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) conducted a simulation of the siphoning operations of industrial oil from the sunken MT Terra Nova at the Port of Lamao here on Wednesday to avoid environmental disaster.

Gov. Jose Enrique Garcia III said he and other concerned agencies were briefed on the simulation that will be applied on MT Terra Nova.

"Nakapag-siphon naman sila, nakapagsipsip ng oil. Umaakyat, lumalabas ang oil and very happy sila sa naging resulta, kaya ngayon kukumpletuhin nila ang plan (They were able to siphon (the oil). The oil came out and they were very happy with the outcome and now they will complete the task)," the governor said.

Garcia said they were still waiting for the timetable, and they wanted to know when and how long the actual siphoning activities will last so government agencies can also support and act.

He hoped that actual siphoning would start early next week.

Garcia said that so far, they have talked with the owner of MT Terra Nova and their insurer but still no word from the two other vessels, MT. Jason Bradley and MV Mirola 1.

Lt. Cdr. Michael John Encina, commander of Bataan Coast Guard Station, said the simulation was successful.

"The simulation that we did proves that the siphoning procedure will be effective. So as of the moment, everything is positive and we saw the result," said Encina.

"The goal here is to determine the viscosity of the oil, so that we may know if the oil will float so we can push it over. Well definitely because of the pressure of the water, oil will come out because it is lighter than water," explained Encina.

"Our salvagers will be conducting scientific calculations on how long the siphoning procedure will last, so now they are taking down the details of their daily activities and determine at the same time how much oil would be siphoned in this simulation," Encina further explained.Encina said the salvage company will present the timetable on actual siphoning not later than Friday.

"Definitely, we are actually asking the salvager for specific details because our people want to know," he said.

"It is colder down the water, so they (salvagers) are just observing the possibility that the oil is more viscous," said Encina.

Encina said that some members of the United States Coast Guard saw their preparations.

He said that PCG tugboats and containment equipment are ready for deployment should oil leaks occur during the siphoning activities.

DSWD continues to provide aid to oil-spill affected families.

Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) continues to help increase the resources of the Bataan and Cavite local government units (LGUs) so they can assist their constituents, particularly the fishermen affected by the oil spill in Limay, Bataan.

DSWD Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said on Thursday that since the start of the oil spill in Bataan, Secretary Rex Gatchalian has directed the National Resource and Logistics Management Bureau to ensure that all LGU requests for family food packs are promptly released by the National Resource Operations Center, the agency's main disaster response hub for relief goods.

"We provided initial assistance to Limay and Mariveles, Bataan, and approximately 10,000 family food packs were initially requested and have already been delivered to our Field Office 3 (Central Luzon)," Dumlao said.

"In fact, we had prepared additional food packs to be distributed throughout Bataan's municipalities," she added.

Dumlao also mentioned that the agency is also assisting Cavite LGUs as the oil spill has already reached the province's waters.

The Cavite LGUs that received DSWD assistance were Cavite City, Bacoor, Kawit, Noveleta, Rosario, Tanza, Naic, Maragondon, and Ternate.

In addition to food items, the agency is working with concerned LGUs to provide other appropriate interventions.

"We are still deciding whether it ought to be Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation, Emergency Cash Transfer, or cash-for-work intervention," Dumlao said.

Dumlao assured the affected fishermen that the agency will continue to work closely with the local governments of Cavite and Bataan, as well as related offices, on significant updates and augmentation requests.