Manila council to probe oil leak

MANILA, Philippines - The city council of Manila will pass a resolution seeking to investigate the oil leak in Sta. Ana district last month.

In a telephone interview with The STAR, Vice Mayor Isko Moreno said the city council’s committee on laws will conduct the probe along with the committee on environmental protection and ecological preservation.

Last month, a storage tank of Larraine Marketing where liters of bunker oil were stored leaked and spilled into the Pasig River.

Meanwhile, the Department of Energy (DOE) is keeping its hands off the proposed relocation of the Pandacan oil depot.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said yesterday the DOE would only support the transfer of the depot if it would not affect the supply of oil.

“As secretary of energy, I’m neutral. In other words, what I’m looking at is the supply and prices of oil. If that will make supply less available and that will make prices higher then I’m against it,“ he said.

But if these are not affected, it’s up to the local government of Manila whether or not to remove the depot, Petilla said.

 The Archdiocese of Manila has said in a statement that the oil depot poses grave threats to the environment and to the residents of Pandacan.

It said that the national and local governments should not wait for another oil spill before deciding to transfer the oil depot. –Aie Balagtas See, Iris Gonzales