The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) announced on Saturday that the final step of the oil spill cleanup in Oriental Mindoro will be completed by June 19.

In a news forum in Quezon City, PCG spokesperson Rear Admiral Armand Balilo announced that the extraction of the remaining industrial fuel oil from the sinking MT Princess Empress would be completed in nine days.

On June 1, the National Task Force on Oil Spill Management stated that the siphoning activities could last up to 30 days.

The Malayan Towage and Salvage Corp. began employing remotely operated vehicles the same day. The deployed catch can collect oil from the vessel's cargo oil tanks (COT), which sank off the coast of Naujan town on Feb. 28.

The MT Princess Empress was carrying around 800,000 gallons of industrial fuel oil when it experienced engine failure, resulting in the accident. COT No. 1 starboard and COT No. 1 port retrieved approximately 50 and 75 liters of oil, respectively.

The amount of oil collected from COT No. 2 starboard and COT No. 2 port remains unknown.

So far, cleanup activities in Calabarzon, Mimaropa, and Western Visayas have gathered approximately 44,656.30 liters of oily water combination, as well as 10,708 sacks, 997 drums, 119 pails, and 648 1-tonner bags of oil-contaminated sand, debris, and oily waste.

On June 2, the Dynamic Support Vessel Fire Opal arrived at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone to begin extracting the sunken vessel's residual oil.

The oily waste is extracted and transferred to a tanker for disposal by the vessel.