|
MEMBERS
of the fishermen’s alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang
Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Wednesday
slammed the plan of the Big Three oil companies—Chevron
Philippines Inc., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and
Petron Corp.—to transfer the oil depot in Pandacan,
Manila, in the coastal areas of Manila Bay, citing the
risk of relocating it near the homes of millions of
people in the coastal communities.
“The idea of the Big Three is absurd,
incorrigible and extremely dangerous. The people should
score a giant kill against this stupid plan of the oil
cartel,” Pamalakaya national chairman Fernando Hicap
said in a press statement.
Hicap claimed that the operation of the
oil depot could endanger the lives of over 2 million
people living in the coastal areas of
Manila
Bay.
The group vowed to ask Manila Mayor
Alfredo Lim, Navotas Mayor Toby Tiangco and Parañaque
Mayor Florencio Bernabe Jr. to oppose the grand plan of
the oil companies to transfer their depots in their
respective localities.
“In the name of public interest, the
mayors of
Manila,
Parañaque and Pasay must say no to the oil cartel’s
grand plan to use the coastal shores of Manila Bay,”
Hicap said.
Chevron (formerly Caltex Philippines),
Pilipinas Shell and Petron submitted their respective
Pandacan Comprehensive Relocation Plan before Branch 39
of the Regional Trial Court in Manila, in compliance
with the Supreme Court’s resolution issued on February
13, 2008.
The implementation of the comprehensive
plan is expected to be completed not less than five
years.
Under the Pandacan Comprehensive
Relocation Plan, the oil companies are eyeing the
construction of an oil depot along the coastal areas of
Manila Bay, which stretches from Manila, Navotas and
Parañaque, as well as the provinces of Bulacan and
Cavite.
Tiangco is open to the idea of playing
host to the oil companies, as long as the safety of the
people of Navotas will be assured.
“We are pursuing a reclamation project
that could accommodate the oil companies. But I doubt if
there is really a comprehensive plan,” Tiangco said.
The reclamation project, Tiangco said,
covers 650 hectares of foreshore land in barangay Tanza,
an island-barangay far from residential areas.
The city’s planning and development
office said the reclamation project is now in the
mobilization stage and can be completed in a matter of
months.
However, Tiangco said he will consider
first and foremost the safety of the people over the
project’s potential economic benefits.
The proposed seaside relocation was
mentioned in the 20-page joint Comprehensive Relocation
Plan submitted by the three oil companies.
Navotas’s strategic location, being a
coastal city off Manila Bay, makes it an ideal site for
the oil depot.
According to the relocation plan, the
three oil companies are targeting coastal areas owing to
their strategic access to the sea. |
