Manila okays ordinance requiring Pandacan oil depots to move out

MANILA, Philippines—A proposed ordinance that would require oil depots in Pandacan, Manila, to relocate by January 2016, was passed by the Manila City Council on third and final reading on Tuesday, without the councilors encountering any resistance.

The 29 councilors in Tuesday’s session unanimously approved Draft Ordinance No. 7461, which would reclassify the oil depot area from an industrial to a commercial zone.  The reclassification will require the oil refineries, a heavy industry, to get out of zone.

The draft ordinance was scheduled for third reading last Thursday but an error in the title of the published draft forced the councilors to make an erratum and republish the corrected copy.

Councilor Jocelyn-Dawis Asuncion, the proposed measure’s principal author, said she was happy that the residents of Pandacan would soon be spared from the dangers posed by the presence of oil refineries.

She cited the explosion at Venezuela’s main oil refinery, on Saturday which killed more than 50 people and injured about 80 others.

Under the zoning ordinance of Manila, the Pandacan depot area was classified as commercial zone. But Ordinance No. 8187 in 2009 created heavy industrial zones in the district, which allowed the oil depot to continue operating in the area.

The approved measure seeks to amend Ordinance 8187 and reclassify as commercial zone the land where the Pandacan oil refineries are located.

Only the oil depots are covered by the amendment and will not affect other heavy industries in the area.

Asuncion expressed hope that the mayor would approve and sign the measure. A draft ordinance passed on third reading is forwarded to the mayor, who may still veto the measure.