Lim meets with Big 3 today

MANILA, Philippines – The Big 3 oil companies will meet with Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim today to thresh out remaining issues on the Pandacan oil depot.

The meeting at the Manila City Hall is also to show Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and Chevron Philippines Inc. support to Manila Ordinance 7177 which may supercede the Supreme Court order on the relocation of the Pandacan oil facilty.

Industry sources noted that Lim, as the chief executive officer of the city, is mandated to enforce any ordinance passed by the city council.

It would be recalled that there was a court ruling which compelled former Manila City mayor Joselito Atienza to enforce Manila Ordinance 8027 “as long as it has not been repealed by the Sanggunian or annulled by the courts.”

In a Supreme Court decision on the Pandacan depot, it was noted that Manila Ordinance 8027 can be repealed by a subsequent ordinance allowing the depot to stay. Based on court records, the decision said Ordinance 8027, which marked the depot’s boundaries and singled it out by zoning it from industrial to commercial, is in effect “as long as it has not been repealed by the Sanggunian or annulled by the courts.” The oil companies occupying the Pandacan oil warehouse have long been arguing the legality of Ordinance 8027 and its “discriminatory spot zoning” of the depot.

Were it not for the new Manila ordinance 7177 superceding the SC order, the consumers should have borne the brunt of higher oil prices and the inconvenience brought about by the relocation of the oil facility.

Support on the decision

The Department of Energy has also showed support on the decision of the City Council of Manila to allow Pandacan oil depot to stay through this new ordinance

Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said the DOE is glad to know that city officials of Manila are concerned on the huge economic impact of relocating the Pandacan oil facility. “We don’t want crisis in supply and prices. Now the decision of the City Council, I would like to suggest and surmise it is also based on that desire,” Reyes said.

The energy chief said the DOE, Supreme Court and the City of Manila are one in ensuring adequate supply of fuel products in Metro Manila. “If the original ordinance is now overturned then there is no ordinance to implement. That’s my interpretation of what you’re telling me, but I still have to verify that,” he said.

According to Reyes, it has been the DOE’s concern to ensure energy security in the country. “My concern is only that we are assured of secured supply of petroleum products particularly in Metro Manila. We don’t want any disruption of that and we don’t want any undesirable price behavior as a result of any moves in location - that’s my only concern,” he said. “Now even the Supreme Court, when it handed that decision, said that this decision is not made to provoke any crisis, they don’t want that and nobody wants that,” he added.

Church officials yesterday urged Lim to veto the city ordinance that allows the continued stay and operation of oil firms in the Pandacan depot.

In a manifesto, the Catholic church officials, led by Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, said they are confident that Lim will make good on his promise to turn down proposed Ordinance 7177 once the city council enacts it. The local measure will re-zone Pandacan into a heavy industrial area, allowing even factories producing and handling toxic chemicals to operate in the place.

“Having been senator and secretary of the Republic, we believe that you will take the health and safety of the people as your number one priority. Please don’t fail us,” they said.

The Church leaders also questioned the motive of the Council in drafting the proposed ordinance and passing it when the Supreme Court already ruled that the oil firms must leave the area. – Dennis Carcamo, Evelyn Macairan, Sandy Araneta