MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) was asked anew Monday to transfer out of the populated Pandacan district in Manila the depot of big oil companies, citing as an example and as a warning the burning of an oil refinery in Ichinara City as a result of a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and a tsunami that hit Japan last March 11.
In a motion, the Social Justice System (SJS) told the SC that the transfer of the oil depot from Manila to less populated area in Luzon could be the best preventive measure to a massive, out-of-control burning of an oil refinery like what happened in Japan.
"The incident that we witnessed in Japan is a forewarning of what may happen to the Pandacan oil depot. The oil companies' claim about safety is purely theoretical whereas herein petitioners' claim about the hazard of the oil depot is purely empirical," lawyer Vladimir Cabigao of SJS said.
According to Cabigao, the tanks and pipelines in the Pandacan oil depot werenot designed to withstand a 9.0-magnitude earthquake.
"Even assuming that they are, the materials and the facility itself would have been decrepit already by today because they have never been upgraded by the oil companies ever since they were constructed fifty or so years ago. Thus, the structural integrity of the pipelines and the oil depot is questionable," he said. (Rey G. Panaligan)
