Ten days. These are the number of days given to the Asian Shipping Corporation to tow away its barge that has been stuck for three months off Agno town.

 The barge was cruising along the South China Sea when the towing hawser connecting it to a tug boat snapped last December 18. It was carrying at least 4.6 metric tons of coal.

 We had been making noises about the issue, citing environmental effects of coal, calling up many agencies to do something about it. Finally, the provincial government acted. Governor Victor Agbayani called for a meeting last Friday among concerned agencies and the company that owns the barge.

 Provincial Administrator Virgilio Solis Jr. decisively told the company representative, Eufes Bautista, the barge patron, that it was giving the firm 10 days to tow the barge away and to clean up the mess it caused on the coastal village.

Bautista tried to bargain. But Solis, in one of his shining moments, said the government was not open for bargaining. 

Solis said if the barge is still in Agno in 10 days, the provincial government will assist Agno town in filing a damage suit against the company.

I told Solis why it took so long before the provincial government acted on the matter, and he said it was in deference to the local government of Agno. It should be the town which should act first, he said.

Agno Vice Mayor Wilson Rosete and Agno consultant Guillermo Neypes both claimed they were doing something about the matter. But both said there were no negative effects of the coal on the village’s seashore, although they both have not been to the area.

Let’s watch and see if the barge owners will remove the offending craft and the spilt coal during the 10 grace period days given it. 

But this question nags me: Why not sue the company for the damages it already caused, even it if tows away the barge in 10 days?