Bohol Philippine Coast Guard Commander Agapito Bibat has clarified that the reported oil spill on the waters off Panglao Island is actually oil sheen, and should not cause alarm. He said the coast guard had observed rainbow sheen in the waters off Tangnan, in Panglao, which was mistaken as oil spill. Bibat said his team recorded the sighting of possible oil sheen on October 19, 2013 but that the rainbow sheen evaporated with sunlight.

The oil sheen is said to have come from sunken M/V Wilcon back in 1994, which was submerged 150m deep and could not be salvaged. The cargo ship with a gross tonnage of 4,210 sank off Panglao island after it caught fire. The Oct. 15 earthquake that struck Bohol is believed to have caused fuel to leak out of the shipwreck. Bibat said that the 20x10m oil sheen is not headed towards the direction of Panglao. However, the Coast Guard is closely monitoring the situation, and has on hand oil spill dispersants on standby.

Gov. Edgar M. Chatto has ordered the Philippine Coast Guard to report the matter to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Chatto said that he already discussed the matter with Coast Guard and DENR officials on the bringing in of deep see divers to inspect the sunken ship. The joint Coast Guard and DENR divers where the same team who went to retrieve the dead body of the late DILG Sec. Robredo off the water of Masbate.