In 2009, SVBB took the case of affected fisher folks and other residents of Guimaras Island who were affected by the 2006 oil spill of the island in central Philippines and represented them to prosecute their case in court to assert their claims against the persons responsible, including the International Oil Pollution Commission Fund 1992 (IOPC) for tort.
It was in August of 2006 when Solar 1 capsized and eventually sunk off the coast of Guimaras Island, thereby releasing its load of bunker fuel oil from the wreck, directly to the nearby fishing grounds, destroying marine life as well as causing injury to some and economic loss to many.
SVBB is counsel to about a thousand plaintiffs, mostly indigents, and has invoked recent Philippine Legislations, like the Clean Water Act, violations of which carry imprisonment and a heavy fine.
The case to bring justice to those affected by the ill effects of the oil spill rages on.