Atienza dares Lim to veto oil depot ordinance

MANILA, Philippines - Former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, who currently heads the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), dared yesterday Mayor Alfredo Lim to veto “railroaded” Ordinance 7177, which allows the oil depots’ permanent stay in Pandacan.

“Now is the time for Lim to show genuine concern for Manilans after residents and other affected sectors expressed their overwhelming rejection to the local legislation which welcomes what they (local legislators) term as ‘most pollutive and extremely hazardous’ industries in the capital city,” Atienza said in a statement.

Atienza said Lim earlier committed to veto the local measure after the church, led by Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales, and non-government organizations criticized Ordinance 7177, which amended Ordinance 8027 that mandates the removal of the oil depots in Manila.

Ordinance 8027 rezoned the Pandacan district into a residential area, while Ordinance 7177 made Pandacan back into an industrial district.

Atienza also admonished Vice Mayor Isko Moreno and the city’s majority councilors for allegedly railroading Ordinance 7177, branding their act as “highly irresponsible.”

According to Atienza, Ordinance 7177 will negate efforts of the national government to rehabilitate the Pasig River.

The Supreme Court upheld with finality Ordinance 8027 earlier this year and ordered the transfer of the oil depots of Chevron Philippines, Inc. (formerly Caltex), Petron Corp. and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. from Pandacan. The SC, however, did not give a deadline when the oil firms should transfer.

Following the SC’s ruling, the Manila city council passed Ordinance 7177.

As part of the oil firms’ gradual phaseout during Atienza’s term, tanks containing aviation gas, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) were dismantled and a green buffer zone separating the oil depots from the residential area was established.

Manila Councilor and Minority Floorleader Letlet Zarcal vowed to battle the issue in court, saying Ordinance 7177 is nothing but a “sugar-coated” measure favoring harmful businesses that only benefit personal and political interests at the expense of the people’s security and safety.

Lim wants wider perspective

Lim, who said he will study Ordinance 7177 during the 15 days he has to approve or veto the measure, advised people to adopt a wider perspective on the issue.

“Where will we get the funds for the employment of these dislocated employees who will lose their jobs if these establishments would move out? There has already been a deficit in the city of Manila as of Dec. 31, 2007,” he said.

Lim noted that the ordinance also affects 20 other establishments.

“Unilever has already threatened to transfer to other countries. Other countries will benefit from this to our prejudice. We must study this carefully. And there must be a dialogue or a referendum. We are going to invite all sectors of society,” said Lim.

He warned that developed countries are already wooing these multinational firms, and “with the removal of these big establishments, it is not only the city of Manila that will be hit with this crisis, but the whole Philippines, the national government.”

Lim said that if the new ordinance is brought to the Supreme Court for review, he will obey the SC ruling on the issue.

Councilor Arlene Koa, who sponsored Ordinance 7177, said unless her measure is passed, more than 200 industries – including the city’s top 10 taxpayers – would be displaced.

Lim also noted that Unilever alone remits at least P70 million in yearly taxes to the city government.

“It is from these taxes that we get funds for the free schooling of students in the city’s 73 elementary schools and 32 high schools, as well as the City College of Manila’s 14,500 students, medicines for the city’s public hospitals and the salaries of city government workers,” he said.

Lim said big businesses in the city might think that it is not wise to invest in Manila since there is no permanence of tenure, especially in the case of those who have been there for decades and are now being demanded to relocate.

Koa also stressed that when the news first broke out that a rezoning ordinance was about to be passed in 2001, Procter and Gamble and La Tondeña packed up and transferred to Laguna, leaving thousands of Tondo residents jobless.

“Now, the land they used to occupy lies empty, and it is the Laguna residents who have jobs,” she said. – With Sandy Araneta