Governance during Disasters: Intra-Governmental and Non-Governmental Coordination in the 2006 Guimaras Oil Spill

The responses of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Petron, government line agencies, local government authorities and non-government organizations to the 2006 Solar I oil spill were moderated by their relative positions within overlapping and competing disaster-specific frameworks at the agency (PCG), local and regional levels. The regional Task Force Solar I Oil Spill (RTFSOS), once convened, overshadowed the other frameworks owing largely to national calamity funds channeled through its member line agencies. While the task force design allowed for better job delineation and horizontal coordination between a limited number of stakeholders, the framework nevertheless marginalized the PCG, local government authorities and NGOs while endowing Petron a legitimate basis for its involvement in response operations. The absence of a widely-accepted protocol for ameliorating the spill’s environmental and human health impact created tension between line government agencies and academic/research communities. Unlike other disasters, the prospect of financial largesse from the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund, either as reimbursements for response activities and compensation for livelihood losses, animated stakeholder and local reactions.