MANILA – A senior member of the Arroyo Cabinet announced he would question before the Supreme Court (SC) the legality of a controversial ordinance passed by the Manila city council which would enable the country’s three major oil companies to retain their depots in crowded district in the city.
Secretary Lito Atienza of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources threatened to elevate the issue to the SC if Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim approves the ordinance or allows it to lapse into a law.
He pointed out that Lim has 10 days upon the passage of the ordinance by the council to either veto or uphold the ordinance.
Atienza explained he would be prompted to file a case before the High Court in order to protect the health, security and environment of the residents of Pandacan district where the oil depots of the country’s “Big 3″ – Petron, Pilipinas Shell and Chevron (formerly Caltez) – are located.
The depots, which were built along the Pasig River before World War 11, are also only about a kilometer away from Malacanang Palace, the official residence of Philippine presidents.
But knowledgeable observers noted that Atienza has turned the controversial ordinance into a “political football” which has implications in the May 2010 elections which is just a year away.
The observers pointed out that Atienza wants to go back to city hall and to achieve this, he has to challenge Lim, his erstwhile political ally, in the 2010 mayoral race.
In the May 2007 polls, Lim gave up his seat as an opposition senator to reclaim city hall at the expense of the son of Atienza whom he trounced by a big margin.
“Now Atienza wants to go one-on-one against Lim in the 2010 elections to see who is who in Manila and he is now using the controversial ordinance as an issue against Lim,” one of the observers stressed.
It was during Atienza’s term as Manila mayor that the city council passed an ordinance which declared Pandacan and the neighboring district of Santa Ana from an industrial zone into a commercial and residential area.
With its approval and its signing into a local law by Atienza, the ordinance ordered the three major companies to abandon their oil depots in Pandacan and relocate elsewhere because they posed a threat to the health, safety and security of the residents.
In early May this year, the High Court upheld the legality of the ordinance and affirmed its order for the oil companies to abandon their depots in Pandacan.
But a week ago, the city council approved another ordinance which reverted Pandacan and other districts in Manila into an industrial area.
The principal sponsor of the ordinance explained this was in consonance with the SC decision which said its order for the oil companies to abandon Pandacan could be superseded by another ordinance which would allow them to stay in the district.
Twenty of the councilors, identified with the camp of Lim, voted in favor of the ordinance while the 14 who were against walked out of the session hall, claiming it was “railroaded.”
Atienza said the ordinance endangers the health, safety, security as well as the future of the city by allowing the oil depots to stay in Pandacan.
Moreover, he pointed out that the ordinance would negate government efforts to protect and rehabilitate major water systems such as the Pasig River.
By allowing heavy industries to continue operating along its banks, efforts to revive the historic river would be rendered futile, Atienza warned.
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