[Kabar-indonesia] 5 Philippine marines killed, 20 wounded in clash on Jolo island

[Joyo at aol.com]

also: Philippines considers oil-eating microbes to tackle oil spill

Associated Press 
September 4, 2006

5 Philippine marines killed, 20 wounded in clash on Jolo island

MANILA (AP): Five Philippine marines were killed and 20 others were wounded 
in a clash early Monday with about 100 to 200 Abu Sayyaf rebels, officials said.

Maj. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, commander of the military's Western Mindanao Command, 
said several Abu Sayyaf rebels were also believed either wounded or killed 
during the two-hour clash thaterupted at dawn near mountainous Patikul town on 
Jolo island.

"We believe many of them were either killed or wounded because we've 
recovered clothes and bandoleers of ammunition stained with blood," Cedo told 
reporters.

The Abu Sayyaf militants were believed led by their leader Khaddafy Janjalani 
and fugitive Indonesian extremists, officials said.

Hundreds of troops have been hunting Janjalani and at least two Indonesian 
members of the regional group Jemaah Islamiyah in U.S.-backed offensives since 
last month.

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AFP
Monday September 4, 2006

Philippines considers oil-eating microbes to tackle oil spill

The Philippine government is considering using oil-eating microbes to speed 
the cleanup of the country's worst ever oil spill, the Environment and Natural 
Resources Department said.

The process, called bio-remediation, involves using a machine that reproduces 
millions of oil-zapping bacteria, the president of the Natural Resource 
Development Corp. Rey Alcozeba said in a statement.

The same process was used to clean up an oil spill in the US Gulf state of 
Louisiana "in a matter of months," Environment and Natural Resources Secretary 
Angelo Reyes said.

The August 11 sinking of the Solar I tanker off the central Philippines has 
contaminated more than 300 kilometers (190 miles) of coastline on the island of 
Guimaras, destroyed a marine sanctuary, pummelled the tourism industry in the 
area and threatens key fishing grounds.

The coastguard has said the Guimaras cleanup could take at least eight months 
using conventional methods.

"If left to itself it would take years for the oil to break down," Alcozeba 
said.

"Bio-remediation was used in Venezuela to clean an oil spill last year," he 
added.

He said the microbes pose no hazard to marine organisms because they feed 
only on the oil substance and quickly die once they run out of food.

A Japanese survey vessel is conducting underwater probes of the tanker, which 
rests on the seabed at a depth of 640 meters (2,100 feet) with an estimated 
1.8 million liters (475,500 gallons) on its hold, to determine how best to deal 
with the threat of a bigger spill.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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