Chevron to Get Award for Its Philippine Operations?

October 20, 2009

FACES was shocked to hear that Chevron Corp. Philippines is being considered for the U.S. 2009 Award for Corporate Excellence. Read FACES letter of concern sent to US Secretary of State Clinton below:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

U.S. Department of State

2201 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20520

202-647-4000, 202-647-5936 fax

October 20, 2009

Dear Secretary of State Clinton,

We were shocked to hear that Chevron Corp. Philippines is being considered for your 2009 Award for Corporate Excellence. We respectfully ask you to remove Chevron Philippines from your awards list as thousands of Filipinos and Filipino-Americans have an active campaign against this polluting corporation.

Our US-based organization, the Filipino/American Coalition for Environmental Solidarity (FACES), and our Philippines-based partner, Advocates for Environmental and Social Justice (AESJ) have been campaigning for years to relocate of the massive Chevron oil depot from metro Manila. The multitude of toxic oil tanks that tower next to homes, schools and a river endanger the lives of millions of Filipinos (1).

The Philippine Supreme Court (2), as well as numerous ordinances over several years[3], has ordered Chevron Philippines to move their depot operations from Manila but Chevron continues to ignore and stall out this order. The people of Manila, that include high-ranking Catholic Church leaders, are even currently gathering electorate petition signatures to oust the Chevron depots. (3)

And the recent typhoons that have battered the Philippines are a stark reminder that Chevron’s tanks of toxic chemicals leach onto the community far too easily.

Chevron Philippines is no corporation to be proud of, not by the US or the Philippines. A little corporate donation to a local project does not replace the many lives lost and harmed due to their toxic operations in the fenceline communities of the Manila oil depots, as well as around the world where they operate. Read the “True Cost of Chevron” report (www.truecostofchevron.com) that chronicles the active world-wide campaigns against them, from the open pit disasters in Ecuador to human rights violations in Nigeria. (5)

We respectfully urge to rescind your nomination and vote for Chevron Philippines from your annual corporate excellence awards. Instead, we hope you will join FACES, AESJ, the Philippine Supreme Court, and thousands of Manila residents to ensure that Chevron relocate its Manila oil depots now.

Sincerely,

Aileen Suzara, FACES Board Chair

Mari Rose Taruc, FACES Chevron Campaign Coordinator

(1) Francesca Francia, “Broken Promise In Manila,” http://www.gcmonitor.org/article.php?id=87.

(2) Mike Frialde & Evelyn Macairan, “SC orders removal of Manila oil depot,” Philippine Star, 8 March 2007. And “20 Manila councilors backing oil depot hit,” Inquirer.net, 1 April 2009.

(3) Council of Manila, Ordinance No. 8027, Section 3, Manila, 13 December 2001. And G.R. No. 156052, Social Justice Society vs. Atienza, 13 February 2008.

(4) “People’s initiative vs depot launched,” Inquirer.net, 23 June 2009.

(5) Antonia Juhasz et al, “True Cost of Chevron: An Alternative Annual Report,” May 2009.