City Council moves to evict oil depots from Pandacan

The Manila City Council adopted yesterday a report of the Council’s Housing and Urban Development Committee (HUDC) reclassifying Pandacan from a heavy industrial zone into a commercial and residential zone.

The adoption of the committee’s report further bolstered the move of the city government to phase out the oil depots in the heart of the country’s capital. Members of the City Council want the transfer of the depot within six months.

Councilor Joy Asuncion of the city’s Sixth District, who chairs the HUDC, said the transfer should be implemented as soon as possible.

Asuncion said the series of terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 in the United States showed that no facility is safe from terrorist groups determined to inflict maximum damage.

During the City Council’s session, presided over by Councilor Kim Atienza, the councilors unanimously voted for the adoption of Asuncion’s 12-page report.

"We are proceeding as scheduled and we expect to pass the ordinance by next week," said Atienza of the City’s Fifth District, who is the Councilor’s President Pro Tempore.

Atienza explained that an "amendment of the report is needed to make the ordinance airtight, if and when the firms elevate the case to the courts." This was set to be done on Tuesday.

The oil depots in Pandacan occupy an approximate area of 30 hectares and officials of the oil firms operating there claimed the transfer would cost them P9 billion.

Oil firm officials also claimed that they should not be relocated since they have adopted measures that would minimize damage if ever terrorist groups attack the oil depots. — Cecille Suerte Felipe