Environmental Damage To Fishery Cited

The municipal government of Paombong, Bulacan in the Philippines is suing the country's air force for damages incurred to a resident's fishpond by the wreckage of a PAF OV-10 Bronco aircraft last month.

The accident -- which claimed the life of the plane's pilot, Captain Aniano Amatong -- also caused more than $10 million Philippine in damages to a pond used by local fishermen.

"The fishpond of Mrs. [Luzviminda] Isidro is severely damaged... we must also consider the fact that the fisher folk’s livelihood has been affected due to the jet fuel oil spill," Paombong Mayor Donato Marcos told The Manila Times.

Marcos asserted the oil damaged the ecology of the area, and the money will be needed to restore it -- including rivers that were also polluted by the spill.

Mrs. Isidro is also suing the PAF separately, for $3.5 million Philippine, for damages to her fishpond. She maintains she needed to drain the pond completely so rescue crews could reach the wreckage of the Bronco (file photo of type, below).

"We already lost at least P2.5 million because our operations stopped, and we need to spend at least P1 million for the cleaning and detoxification of the ponds," she said, displaying an itemized list of the damages she submitted to the PAF.

The PAF is reportedly offering only P150,000 for the damages.

FMI: www.paf.mil.ph