ORIENTAL MINDORO, Philippines – Oriental Mindoro Governor Bonz Dolor could not hide his dismay over the potential long-term impacts of an oil spill on the province’s marine protected areas.

In an ambush interview with reporters on Saturday, March 4, Dolor said the industrial oil that leaked into the sea poses a threat to their fishing industry.

The spill has spread to 10 towns in Oriental Mindoro and has put at risk more than 30 marine protected areas. (READ: Oriental Mindoro oil spill threatens Philippine, global diversity)

“These [marine protected areas] are breeding grounds. If these are affected, the source of fish would also be affected, causing an effect on the market chain,” he said. “Production-wise, there’s also a problem, so we would need to import fish from the outside, when we used to send fish outside of Mindoro.”

“It took us more than 10 years to take care of these marine protected areas [and be recognized] as outstanding [on a national scale],” he added.

Dolor feared that the oil spill would result in billions of pesos in damage that is detrimental to the national economy.

The oil spill occurred after MT Princess Empress capsized off Tablas Strait in Balingawan Point, Naujan, Oriental Mindoro on February 28.

All 20 people aboard the ship were rescued, but the ship sunk with 800,000 liters of industrial fuel in it. – Rappler.com

*Quotes in Filipino were translated into English, and some were shortened for brevity.