Lim, Moreno face raps over oil depots' continued stay

MANILA, Philippines – Officers and members of the group Advocates for Environmental and Social Justice (AESC) filed a complaint against Mayor Alfredo Lim and Vice Mayor Isko Moreno before the Office of the Ombudsman yesterday for approving an ordinance that allowed the oil depots of the country’s three largest oil firms to stay in Pandacan, Manila.

AEDC officers, led by Vladimir Cabigao, said Lim and Moreno actually circumvented a Supreme Court (SC) decision upholding an earlier measure, Ordinance 8027, which called for the removal of the oil depots.

They said the enactment of Ordinance 8187 last May 28 to amend Ordinance 8027 disregarded “the legal principle that the welfare of the people is the supreme law.”

AEDC said the SC has established that the oil depots in Pandacan store 313.5 million liters of highly flammable fossil fuel-based products but are open to attack through land, water, or air; are situated in a densely populated area near Malacañang Palace; and can cause harm because in case of an explosion or conflagration, fire could spread to nearby communities.

The complainants said Lim and Moreno’s “ultimate objective” was to “reverse and set aside the decision of the Supreme Court,” which is tantamount to indirectly repealing it.

By doing so, AEDC said both local officials violated their oaths of office, wherein they swore to “obey the laws, legal orders, and decrees promulgated by the duly constituted authorities of the Republic of the Philippines.”

They explained that the Supreme Court’s ruling is a legal order and a law, based on Article VIII of the New Civil Code, which declares that decisions and interpretations of law by the SC “shall form part of the legal system of the Philippines.”

AEDC said Lim and Moreno should be dismissed from public service and perpetually disqualified from holding public office in the future.

The complainants said the Office of the Ombudsman should also place them under preventive suspension pending its investigation.

AEDC also earlier filed a complaint against members of the Manila City Council who passed the Ordinance 8187 – then known as Ordinance 7177 – on second reading, accusing them of also enacting a local law that is against the interest and general welfare of the public.