Atienza to ‘Big 3’: Comply or move out

Manila Mayor Lito Atienza warned the "Big 3" oil firms yesterday to comply with the agreement to reduce the volume of their stocks and install safety measures at their depots in Pandacan or be completely phased out in December.

Atienza said the city government is closely monitoring the compliance of oil firms Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Corp. and Caltex Philippines to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) which allowed them to stay in Pandacan for another six months.

"We’re watching them very closely," the mayor said. "If they do not comply with the MOU, then we’ll be forced to implement the law that requires them to move out their oil depots from Pandacan after the extension."

Atienza said he would ask the council to amend the city ordinance only after the oil firms have fully complied with the MOU.

"With the present setup, the city government is still in control of the situation," he pointed out.

The mayor explained the MOU allows the oil depots to stay in Pandacan until December after the oil firms’ executives vowed to reduce the volume of stocks by 40 percent and install safety buffer zones.

The MOU, signed in June by officials of the city government and the oil firms calls for green zones and open spaces between the common distribution facility that would be established and managed by the three oil firms.

Atienza clarified the MOU does not supercede the city ordinance that reclassifies the Pandacan area from heavy industrial to a commercial-residential zone.

He noted that the MOU is the "Solomonic solution to the problem."

Under the MOU, the three oil firms should start decommissioning 28 fuel storage tanks containing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and aviation fuel beside the residential communities in Pandacan.