Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Friday declared a state of national calamity over the Guimaras oil spill in central Philippines while asking the Philippine-Saudi oil company Petron to clean up the widespread pollution caused by the sunken tanker.

Addressing a meeting in the central city of Cebu, Arroyo said such a national calamity asks for cooperation and solidarity of all Filipinos to be solved.

"I am declaring the Guimaras oil spill as a national calamity that demands the cooperation and solidarity of all Filipinos. Let us do what has to be done first and deal with the blame later," Arroyo said.

She asked Petron Corporation and the owner of the sunken tanker to "immediately clean up the mess."

The Solar I sank with 2 million liters of bunker fuel off the coast of Guimara Island on August 11. At least 350,000 gallons of soil have been spilled out and more than 200 kilometers of coastlines and hundreds of hectares of mangroves have been badly polluted.

Arroyo also said she is deeply concerned over the mounting health hazards in the communities affected by the oil slick and has ordered a "meticulous and rapid assessment of the situation by health authorities".

She said mobile hospitals will be set up and evacuation centers be built for thousands of villagers and fishers living in the polluted region "to ease suffering and save lives."

Hundreds of people have fallen sick and one man has died of poisonous air from oil slick, health officials said.

Medical teams were already deployed to the island and affected neighboring provinces to assist and treat residents experiencing skin irritation and respiratory problems due to the oil slick, reported local television network ABS-CBN News.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque arrived in the Iloilo City near the Guimaras Island Thursday to check the situation after 329 people have complained of a range of health problems including skin irritation and difficult breathing, said officials.

Arroyo is set to visit Guimaras island on Saturday to personally assess the extent of damage brought about by the oil spill.

The Philippine Coast Guard has appealed for donations of human hair and chicken feathers as absorbent materials to contain the oil slick.

The local government of Guimaras has reportedly asked Petron to retrieve the sunken tanker in five days or face legal actions.

So far Petron has refused to shoulder responsibility for the oil spill, considered the worst of its kind in the country's history.

Source: Xinhua