Manila vice mayor favors stay of Pandacan oil depots

MANILA, Philippines – Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno (Francisco Domagoso) favors the continued stay of the 36-hectare oil depot in the residential district of Pandacan. According to Moreno, thousands of workers will lose their jobs if the oil depots, owned by the "Big Three" oil players Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Caltex Philippines Inc. (now Chevron) and Petron Corp., would be transferred to other areas. “May mga batas na babagay sa pangangailangan ng panahon. Hirap na hirap tayo. We cannot afford to lose hundreds of thousands na trabaho sa lunsod ng Maynila. Yun ang katotohanan. Yun ang tanggapin natin," Moreno said in a radio interview on Tuesday. [There are certain measures that are called for by the demands of the times. We are already having difficulty in coping with the hard times. We cannot afford to lose hundreds of thousands of jobs in the city. That is the truth that we have to accept.] Meanwhile, the city council on Tuesday postponed its meeting for the third and final reading of a draft measure amending city ordinances 8027 and 8119. If passed, the measure would allow the oil depots to permanently stay in Pandacan. Radio dzBB’s Carlo Mateo said the meeting was canceled due to lack of quorum. The group Social Justice Society, asked the Supreme Court last week to stop the city council’s deliberations on the amendment of City Ordinances 8027 and 8119. It claimed that the continued stay of the oil depots in Pandacan would pose danger to the residents and to the environment. - GMANews.TV