SC upholds removal of oil depot from Pandacan

The oil depot in Pandacan will really have to go.

This was after the Supreme Court on Tuesday denied Chevron's motion for reconsideration that sought to reverse its November 2014 ruling ordering the relocation of the depot, which houses the oil storage facilities of the three major petroleum companies in the country.

 

The SC also denied Chevron's motion for clarification which sought an extension for the submission of an updated comprehensive plan and relocation schedule. The deadline was last January, or 45 days after the promulgation of the decision. 

 

Also denied was Chevron's request that the wordings "the very nature of the depots where millions of iter of highly flammable and highly volatile products... has no place in a densely populated area" be removed from the decision.

 

The SC also reminded Petron that the high tribunal "did not... consent to consider Janaury 2016 as separate deadline for compliance with our decision."

 

The SC clarified that the relocation and transfer included the "complete removal of the facilities in the Pandacan terminals and should be made part of the required comprehensive plan and relocation schedule."

 

November 2014 ruling

 

In November 2014, SC Public Information Office chief Theodore Te, reading from the court's ruling, said: "The continued stay of oil depots placed the residents of Manila in danger of being terrorist target." 

 

With 10 justices voting for and two against, the high court struck down as unconstitutional Manila's Ordinance No. 8187, which was enacted during the incumbency of former Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim. 

 

The ordinance had provided for the continued stay and operation of oil the depot in the 33-hectare compound in Pandacan district. 

 

Chevron, Shell, and Petron maintain storage facilities in the depot. 

 

"The incumbent mayor of the City of Manila is hereby ordered to cease and desist from enforcing Ordinance No. 8187," the ruling read. 

 

"In coordination with government agencies and the parties involved, he is further ordered to oversee the relocation and transfer of the oil terminals out of the Pandacan area," it added.

 

Petron earlier said it will move its oil depots in Rosario in Cavite, Navotas, Harbour Center, Limay, Batangas no later than January 2016. 

 

Shell for its part had said that it was prepared to comply with the Supreme Court's ruling. 

 

Chevron, meanwhile, said it stopped as early as June the operation of its oil terminal in Pandacan. —NB, GMA News