Group scores Lim for Pandacan depot stay

MANILA, Philippines – A militant environment organization yesterday criticized the decision of Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim to allow the permanent stay of oil depots in Pandacan.

The Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE) said Lim’s move is “an act of selling out” the residents of Manila as well as organizations who lobbied for the relocation of the oil depots.

“There has been much debate over City Council Ordinance 7177, which allows the country’s largest oil distributors- Petron, Shell and Caltex to continue using the oil depot. Many have been prodding Mayor Lim to veto the said ordinance. After conducting several dialogues with different parties, government agencies and concerned organizations, Lim signed the controversial ordinance (Thursday) noon,” lamented Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan-PNE. “After all the claims of having sleepless nights and thinking of what’s best for the people, Lim still sided with the companies. Now, it’s the people who will have to lose sleep over their safety and security,” he also said.

According to Lim, his decision was based on the economic and social implications that might affect the city adversely if the companies move out. The companies and those favoring the stay of the oil depots have mapped out scenarios of job displacements, oil shortages and closing down of dependent industries if the companies to a different location.

But, Kalikasan-PNE said, these scenarios are “mere excuses” to continue business as usual and can be addressed by the companies and politicians if they want to.

“For one, as to the question of what will happen to the thousand workers who will be displaced, it is the responsibility and task of the oil companies to ensure the welfare and job security of their workers once they transfer their depot to a safe and appropriate area,” Bautista argued. Another point that proponents of the ordinance stated for letting the oil depots stay is that the city government is getting some P100 million in licensing fees and real-estate taxes from the companies.

They said the revenues that the oil companies bring in contribute to the social services that Manila residents are receiving.

But, as a counter argument, Kalikasan-PNE said these supposed financial contribution of companies are not enough to compensate the environmental damage and the public health risk that the oil depots is causing.

“Fundamental human rights such as the right to livelihood, to basic social services and to a safe and healthy environment should not be mutually exclusive. The people of Manila, as with any other human being, deserve to receive the full range of their rights. It is a task of the leaders who are elected by the people to uphold these rights and represent the welfare of their constituents no matter how difficult,” Bautista said.

Bautista said that by allowing the permanent stay of the oil depots in Pandacan, Lim and supporters of the ordinance have failed the people. Bautista then assailed other politicians who supposedly have the power to influence the decision but apparently opted not to exercise such influence in this case. Bautista also said that the national government and its agencies could have been more persistent in asserting the rights of the residents. He lamented that the national government instead appeared to have just left the decision in Lim’s hands.