‘Relocate Pandacan depot’

Malacañang and the Manila City Council approved yesterday plans to hasten the transfer of the Pandacan oil depot to another site, possibly in Batangas, in the face of renewed threats of terrorist attack.

In Manila, the City Council approved a resolution calling for the termination of the operations of the Pandacan oil depot within six months and its complete phase out within two years.

City Council Majority Leader Marlon Lacson said the resolution backed the call of Manila Mayor Lito Atienza to hasten the phase-out of the Pandacan oil depot at the soonest possible time.

"The City Council has constituted itself as a committee of the whole and will conduct the first public hearing tomorrow at 2 p.m. to take-up this matter as well as proposed zoning ordinance that seeks to reclassify Pandacan as a mixed-use zone. It is also the emerging consensus among the member of the body to limit the use of the area for commercial and residential purposes and prohibit industrial facilities," Lacson explained

President Arroyo also gave her go-signal for the transfer of the oil depot, which is located near Malacañang Palace, to a possible new site in Batangas, her spokesperson revealed.

Malacanang noted that the Pandacan oil depot was declared as not only a fire hazard but also a national security risk area in Metro Manila.

Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo instructed Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Vicente Perez Jr. to coordinate the transfer plans with the "Big Three" oil companies using the Pandacan oil depot as a common storage area.

"There’s a decision by the Executive Branch, by the President, we have to move the Pandacan oil depot, not only for security reasons and environmental reasons," Tiglao said. "A lot of complaints have been made about its (deadly) fumes to nearby schools, on top of its being a fire hazard and secondly, a national security hazard," he said.

Tiglao noted that the best possible site to relocate the Pandacan oil depot would be in Batangas because it has a port and the province was being connected to the Malampaya natural gas pipeline from Palawan. He said this would make Batangas the center for fuel storage.

Atienza said the city has advanced the timetable for the phase-out of the oil depot, from the original three to five years, to within six months to two years.