Who Wants To Swim In a Sea Of Bunker Fuel?

ILOILO City -- In the aftermath of the country’s worst oil spill last August 11, only a few brave men will dare swim the Guimaras-Iloilo Strait.

From 160 swimmers in 2005, the organizers of the 3rd Kayaba Guimaras-Iloilo Cross Channel Swim, are in deep waters after only 12 brave souls registered on deadline Thursday for the annual extreme competitive sport this Sept. 9.

“It used to be that we had to turn away participants from joining, but now we have to beg swimmers to participate. They have been turned off the by the oil spill and the advisory of the Department of Health,” said Jay Balnig, a radio commentator and project director of Kayaba.

Of the 12 who registered for this year’s swim, three were from Guimaras and the rest were from Iloilo city and province.

Aksyon Radyo of the Manila Broadcasting Company that organizes the sporting event endorsed by the Department of Tourism was forced to move the registration deadline to Sept. 6 or three days before the actual competition.

The Kayaba Guimaras-Iloilo Cross Channel Swim drew 180 swimmers at its launch in 2003 when it was at its most extreme.

Participants had to swim 4.2 nautical miles from Buenavista Wharf in Guimaras all the way to the polluted Iloilo River across the Iloilo Strait.

This 2006, the open cross channel swim will only be 1.7 nautical miles from Guimaras’ Jordan Wharf to the cleaner Fort San Pedro Wharf in Iloilo City.

And still, swimmers say no.

The waters between Guimaras and Iloilo which is the path of the cross-channel swim have been declared free of oil sheen and slick, said Captain Nilo Sazon, squadron commander of the 601st Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary here.

The DOH here has released a health advisory a week after the oil spill that, “repeated exposure to water contaminated with oil may result in dermatitis and irritation/corrosion to the eyes, gingival and mucous membranes.”

The parents of swimmers and the swimmers themselves cite the DOH advisory as the major reason why they balked from joining the 3rd Kayaba Guimaras-Iloilo Cross Channel Swim, said Balnig.

“This time, the purpose of the competition is to prove that the waters between Guimaras and Iloilo are not affected by the oil slick,” said John Paul Tia, over-all chairman of the competition.

Balnig said that 20 percent of swimmers joining the competition in the past came from the cities of Bacolod and Cebu, as well as Manila.

“We should promote cross channel swimming in the Iloilo- Guimaras straits. In 1994, I envisioned it ala British-English Cross Channel swim. I hope that it will bring back the lost glory of Guimaras before the oil spill,” said Martin Soriano, the first Ilonggo on record to swim the Guimaras-Iloilo Strait in August 7, 1994.

The term “Kayaba” is from the Hiligaynon word “sag-a”, loosely translated as “to drain out water” and “Kaya Mo Ba (Can you do it)?”

Balnig said the sport is extreme in the sense that swimmers must get to the finish line within two hours or risk being carried by strong currents to the northern shores of Iloilo in the towns of Leganes and Dumangas.

This year’s swim on Sept. 9 starts at 12:45 p.m. high tide.

The 2003 champion in the open category swimming a distance of 4.2 nautical miles was Cyrus Floro clocking two hours, 46 minutes and 36 seconds (2:46:36).

There was no Kayaba in 2004 because of the elections, said Balnig.

The 2005 champion was Adelbert Gallos clocking two hours, 12 minutes and five second (2:12:05) swimming at a distance of 1.2 nautical miles.

About 14 to 20 contestants make it to shore, the rest giving up in the middle of the Guimaras-Iloilo Strait and picked up by the Philippine Coast Guard.

“Even if we end up with only two contestants, we’ll continue with the Kayaba just to prove that waters between Iloilo City and Guimaras are clean,” said Balnig.

Who Wants to Swim in a Sea of Bunker Fuel?, by HAZEL P. VILLA