Manila mayor vetoes proposal to evict oil companies from Pandacan terminal
Manila City Mayor Alfredo S. Lim vetoed a draft of a rezoning ordinance, which called for the eviction of oil companies from the depot in the Pandacan district of the city. The veto, which Lim said was based on the recommendation of the city legal officer and secretary, ensures the continued operations of the depot, which is the main source of fuel for Metro Manila in the Philippines.
Ordinance 8283, which was approved by the City Council on August 28, reclassified the Pandacan district from a heavy industrial zone to a high intensity commercial/mixed zone. The ordinance gave the oil companies until January 2016 to relocate the operation of their businesses.
A statement from the mayor’s office quoted City Legal Officer Renato dela Cruz and the mayor’s secretary, Rafaelito Garayblas: “Ordinance 8283 did not specify concrete plans on how the city would cope with the concomitant loss of revenue when the oil depot ceases to operate, or how it intends to develop the site to make it generate income and make it more productive than it already is”.
Lim had earlier said that the city would lose millions of pesos in revenue if the affected industries relocate, which could lead to disruptions in the delivery of basic services, such as education and health. Approving the ordinance, Lim explained, would also result in the loss of about 10,000 jobs.
For decades, Pandacan has hosted facilities of the country’s three major oil firms: Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Chevron Philippines, Inc. (formerly Caltex Philippines) and Petron Corp. The depot in Pandacan supplies servicing 50% of the country’s fuel requirements, 70% of the shipping sector’s oil needs, 90% of lubricants and 75% of aviation fuel requirements. (September 13, 2012)