Councilors Marlon Lacson and Kim Atienza have filed a resolution in the city council calling for the orderly phase-out and eventual transfer of the depot.
Manila is the only city in the world which has a gasoline and oil depot in the middle of the city which could explode and cause widespread devastation, according to the two councilors.
Manila Mayor Lito Atienza agreed with the councilors saying, "as part of the development plan for the city, the depot should not remain in Manila, especially in such a densely populated area."
But the mayor believes the transfer of the depot should be done with minimum disruption in the operations of firms operating in the Pandacan depot through a gradual phase-out.
He ordered the City Engineer’s Office to closely monitor the depot and ensure that safety standards are strictly complied with.
An Irish expatriate and expert on disaster management, Aidan Tasker-Lynch, has likened the possible devastation of Manila to the incident in Mexico City in 1984 where more than 600 people perished after a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) plant located outside the city, with enough buffer zones, accidentally exploded.
He warned that a large part of Manila, including Malacañang Palace, is in danger of being obliterated in case of an accidental explosion at the Pandacan oil depot; and that the dead and injured would run to thousands.
He also feared that terrorist acts, such as bombings or sabotage, make the Pandacan oil depot a very risky proposition for the city.
Moreover, firemen have admitted their incapacity to fight a large-scale conflagration such as one created by an explosion in the Pandacan oil depot. – Nestor Etolle