SC orders closure of Pandacan oil depot



By Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 12:13pm (Mla time) 03/07/2007


MANILA, Philippines -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the Manila City government to shut down the Pandacan oil depot.
The 12-page unanimous decision of the high court’s first division, penned by Associate Justice Renato Corona directed Manila Mayor Lito Atienza to order businesses disallowed by a city ordinance -- including the Pandacan terminals of Caltex (Philippines), Inc., Petron Corporation and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation -- to cease and desist operations within six months of the local measure’s effectivity.
This decision stemmed from an original action for mandamus filed by the political party Social Justice Society (SJS) and Manila residents Vladimir T. Cabigao and Bonifacio S. Tumbokon asking the high court to compel Atienza to enforce a city ordinance that would shut down the Pandacan depot.
City Ordinance 8027, which was approved by the Manila City Council on November 28, 2001 and took effect on December 28 that same year, reclassifies portions of Pandacan and Sta. Ana from industrial to commercial.
The Supreme Court said the ordinance was within the delegated police power of local government units “to promote the order, safety, and health, morals, and general welfare of the society.”
“There is nothing that legally hinders [Mayor Atienza] from enforcing Ordinance No. 8027,” it said.
In fact, the high court said the Local Government Code “imposes upon Atienza the duty, as city mayor, to ‘enforce all laws and ordinances relative to the governance of the city.’ One of these is Ordinance No. 8027.”
“As the chief executive of the city, he has the duty to enforce Ordinance No. 8027 as long as it has not been repealed by the Sanggunian [Panglungsod or city council] or annulled by the courts,” it added. “He has no other choice. It is his ministerial duty to do so.”
Noting that the measure was enacted after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States, the high court recognized that “the objective of the ordinance is to protect the residents of Manila from the catastrophic devastation that will surely occur in case of a terrorist attack on the Pandacan terminals. No reason exists why such a protective measure should be delayed.”
However, on June 26, 2002, the Manila city government and the Department of Energy entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the oil companies which said “the scaling down of the Pandacan terminals [was] the most viable and practicable option.”
The city council ratified the MoU through Resolution No. 97 but declared it effective for only six months from July 25, 2002. However, it adopted yet another resolution extending the validity of Resolution No. 97 to April 30, 2003 and authorizing Atienza to issue special permits to the oil companies.
This prompted SJS, Cabigao and Tumbokon to file their petition before the high court.


Makakaapekto kaya sa presyo ng gasolina pag lumipat mga iyan?