Although more than a year has passed since the Makati City government ordered them to move out of the 22-story West Tower Condominium in Barangay (village) Bangkal, the pain of leaving their homes remains fresh for unit owners Bobby Dimayuga and Volney Ricafort.
“In the first four months of the crisis, we were blamed by everyone for the leak,” Dimayuga said in a recent interview. “That’s the most painful part. [Authorities] had yet to investigate the incident then but [people] already perceived that it was our fault.”
Dimayuga, the president of the homeowners’ association, said that just like some residents, he believed that the oil leak found in the condominium basement on July 12 last year was from the nearby pipeline owned and operated by First Philippine Industries Corp. (FPIC).
“FPIC first blamed [it on the] building design, then our generator set. When we sought assistance from city hall, they said they couldn’t [intervene] because it [concerned] private property,” Dimayuga continued. “We were given deadlines to [drain the basement] or [the building’s occupancy and building permits] would be revoked.”
Eventually, the leak was traced to the pipeline, specifically, five rice grain-sized holes found in a section of the structure just meters away from the condominium.
End nowhere in sight
These were plugged by FPIC but more than a year later, the end to the environmental disaster is nowhere near in sight, according to Sonny de Castro, an engineer who was among those consulted by unit owners on the remediation process.
“Before the remediation process begins, the fuel below the barangay must be drawn out completely,” De Castro said. “Hauling off wastewater is just part of the inter-remediation process.”
From the data provided by homeowners, De Castro estimated that only 800,000 liters of fuel have so far been extracted from the ground, still a long way from the 1.8 million liters believed to have leaked from the pipeline.
“Other estimates would put the amount of fuel at 2.8 million liters,” De Castro said.
In the early days of the crisis, Ricafort viewed the leak as an accident and like other residents, he wanted FPIC to fix the leak and return the building to the way it was.
“We wanted to be relocated somewhere while the rehabilitation was ongoing and we asked FPIC to shoulder [our] furnishings since we couldn’t get our [possessions] from our units because the elevator had been shut off,” he said.
The company, however, made a counter-offer of P100,000 to residents who would sign a quit claim which essentially absolved the firm of any responsibility, Dimayuga said.
Dimayuga and other residents rejected the offer while others took it.
Dimayuga said the consensus among the majority of homeowners was to bring the case to the courts.
Both he and Ricafort expressed their desire to return to their homes on the condition that the building would be returned to its pre-oil leak condition.
But for now, they believe that they might be in for a long wait—one expert estimated that the remediation would take three to five years while another believed it would last seven to 10 years.
For officials of Barangay Bangkal, the oil leak’s effects have spread to beyond the environment.
Fewer barangay projects
“Since the barangay is service-driven, we may have to cut down on the programs we offer to our residents because of our shrinking budget,” barangay chairman Ferdie Eusebio told the Inquirer.
Barangay administrator Roy Ordiales explained that since the oil leak, most of their revenue sources like real property taxes and fees for various licenses issued to establishments have nearly dried up after they decided to issue a moratorium on payments out of consideration for residents and businessmen affected by the oil leak.
“Initially, we understood that this was an accident and we wanted to help the concerned parties expedite the cleanup,” Ordiales said. “But today, things have changed.”
Ordiales cited an ongoing condominium project near the boundary of the barangay. The units were selling briskly before the crisis but the trend changed after that.
“We heard that property buyers were wary of the place since they associated it with West Tower even if it’s far away,” he said.
And with the buyers staying away, the barangay can say goodbye to the real property taxes that it could have collected from the project, Ordiales added.
Small businessmen in the area have also complained about the severe impact of the oil leak on their trade. “Owners have been asking us when this [crisis] will end because they are already hurting pretty bad,” Ordiales said.
The crisis has also led to paranoia among residents, some of whom frantically call up the barangay every time they hear sirens go off in the area, according to barangay kagawad (councillor) Richard Saquilayan.
The officials also complained that they have yet to be consulted during meetings on finding a solution to the oil leak problem.
“We want to be involved because we are among the affected parties. When residents come to us and ask us about the [situation], we want to give them an informed response,” Ordiales explained.