MANILA, Philippines?More than 60 drums of water contaminated with oil have been siphoned off the basement of West Tower condominium in Makati City that has been abandoned by residents because of an oil leak.

According to Francis Losa, an architect and a technical consultant of the Bensan Industries which condominium residents have contracted to clear the basement, at least 66 drums containing some 200 liters each of slop water were collected from the basement of the 22-story building as of last Friday.

An average of 80 percent of the contents of each drum consists of processed fuel, he added.

?Some suspect it?s premium gasoline, others say it?s aviation fuel,? Losa said. ?We have to verify that through some tests. But what I can say now is that it?s ?processed fuel.??

Makati fire Chief Superintendent Samuel Tadeo said that as long as the basement remains flooded, investigators cannot start to look for the source of the oil leak.

Tadeo, who will lead the team that would investigate the oil leak source, added that Basements 3 and 4 had already been cleared of waste water, but the building?s sump pit remains flooded.