Parang folk to be consulted on reopening of oil depots

PARANG, Maguindanao — The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) police will start holding dialogues here this week on whether to resume operations of seaside fuel depots that were shut down early this year due to security threats.

Since the shutdown, the cost of fuel here, in Cotabato City and surrounding towns have increased by a peso, with supplies delivered by tanker trucks from Davao City or the South Cotabato-Sarangani-General Santos City (Socsargen) area.

Senior Superintendent Isnaji Bantala, newly installed ARMM police director, said the regional police and the office of Parang Mayor Vivencio Bataga are working closely on the plan to resume the operations of the Shell, Caltex and Petron depots here.

"Even the pacification efforts of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces in Maguindanao and elsewhere have been affected by the closure of these depots," Bantala told The STAR.

The Central Mindanao business community has warned of a serious slump in the local economy if the three oil giants are not able to reopen their depots here next year.

Antonio Santos, a hotel owner in Cotabato City and vice president for Mindanao of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said some traders consuming big volumes of petroleum products for their businesses were forced to lay off workers to cope with the P1 increase in the prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene sold by retailers.

"We cannot do anything because the retailers buy their stocks from very far places and the cost of transporting them overland to Cotabato City and Maguindanao is so high," Santos said.

Bantala said the dialogues will involve Parang’s religious and political sectors.

"We will not hesitate to forge a security covenant with leaders of the local sectors and representatives of the oil companies if only to ensure the safety of the depots and the people operating them," he said.

Bantala said planners from the office of ARMM Gov. Parouk Hussin, who chairs the regional peace and order council, will also be involved in the consultations to formulate security arrangements for the oil depots.