Manila Council members hit Alvarez

The Manila City Council declared yesterday Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Heherson Alvarez persona non grata yesterday for allegedly opposing the clamor for the immediate relocation of the oil depot in Pandacan for security reasons.

The councilors also vowed to oppose Alvarez’s confirmation at the Commission on Appointment (CA). Officials said when a person is declared a persona non grata, it means he is deemed by the city as an unfriendly and undesirable person and that the city government would cease to recognize him.

The City Council made the move after Alvarez issued a statement on the clamor for the immediate transfer of the oil depot in Pandacan, which the councilors interpreted as "inimical to the city and to the welfare of its residents."

Reports had it that Alvarez shrugged off the calls of the city officials to immediately facilitate the transfer of the oil depot from Pandacan.

Alvarez was quoted as saying that phasing out the oil depot would take time because the transfer would entail preparation, money and many other factors.

Alvarez’s position is opposed to the stand of the city government and President Arroyo that the oil depot in Pandacan should be relocated within six months because it poses great danger to the residents.

The threat of a possible explosion of the oil depot was magnified after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington D on Sept. 11 and killed several thousand persons.

The STAR tried to get Alvarez’s comment yesterday but his aides said the secretary was attending a Cabinet meeting in Malacañang.

"Why is he acting as if he is the spokesperson of the oil firms when he should be protecting the environment as DENR secretary?" asked Councilor Jocelyn Asuncion during yesterday’s session,

Asuncion authored the council ordinance reclassifying Pandacan area from industrial to commercial-residential zone. – Cecille Suerte Felipe