Council overrides veto on oil depot transfer

MANILA, Philippines - The Manila City Council yesterday overrode the veto of Mayor Alfredo Lim on the ordinance seeking the removal of the oil depot in Pandacan by 2016.

Voting 28-8, the council has enacted into law Ordinance 8283, which amends Section 2 of Ordinance 8187 by reclassifying the area of the oil depot from a heavy industrial zone to a high-intensity commercial and mixed use zone. This means the oil firms have until 2016 to transfer the depot.

The council needs at least two-thirds of the total number of the city councilors, or 26 out of 38, in order to repeal the mayor’s decision. Among those who voted in favor of the override are Majority and Minority Floor Leaders Sheila Lacuña-Pangan and Casimiro Sison.

Voting against the override, meanwhile, are minority members and Lim’s allies Councilors Eduardo Quintos XVI and Rodolfo Lacsamana, and Sangguniang Kabataan Representative Eunice Castro.

Councilor Josefina Siscar, who promised to vote against the override, left the session hall yesterday before the council voted on the mayor’s veto.

Following the vote to override, Councilor Jocelyn Dawis-Asuncion – the principal author of the ordinance – expressed her gratitude to her fellow council members.

“The removal of the oil depot in the city will be beneficial to the people of Manila,” she said, noting the risks posed by the presence of the oil refineries in the city.

On Wednesday, Lim decided to veto the ordinance on the basis of the recommendation of city legal officer Renato de la Cruz.

According to De la Cruz, the ordinance was “prejudicial to public welfare” because of the economic and political repercussions that would come with its approval.