MANILA, April 3, (PIA)--The city government of Manila has taken the first step in enforcing City Ordinance No. 8283 which reclassified the Pandacan area from an industrial to a commercial zone.
Pandacan area is where oil depots of “Big 3” oil companies are located.
In 2012, the city council passed Ordinance No. 8283, which reclassified the area where the facility is located into a commercial zone
Yesterday, Mayor Joseph Estrada signed a letter in public ordering Chevron, Petron and Shell, to remove their oil depots in Pandacan by January 31, 2016.
“Let this letter serve as your notice that regular monitoring will be conducted by the city government to determine the progress of your activities,” he said.
Estrada cited Ordinance No. 8283 and a directive from the Supreme Court on the enforcement of Ordinance No. 8027 which was approved in 2001 as the legal basis of his order.
Estrada said the city government would not provide the oil firms an extension beyond January 2016. “If they don’t cooperate, we will demolish their facilities. That’s the truth, I’m not kidding. There’s already an order from the Supreme Court [which is] final and executory.”
Estrada, in his letter asked the oil companies to furnish his office with their comprehensive plan and relocation schedule.
He said that city government will ensure that the facilities that adversely affect the environment and pose a danger to the health and lives of Manila’s residents, will be removed as soon as possible.
“Life is irreplaceable, property is not,” Estrada said. (Office of the City Mayor, Manila/RJB/SDL/PIA-NCR)
0 Comments