FACES' 2011 Philippines Tour!

FACES RINGS IN 2011, PHILIPPINES STYLE

FACES celebrated the New Year with our Philippines partners at AESJ (Advocates for Environmental & Social Justice)in Pandacan, metro Manila. It’s Filipino tradition to ring in the New Year with fireworks, but Makati (near Manila) was banned from setting any sparks for fear of igniting an explosion from the big-news leaking gas pipeline below. FACES research actually shows that Makati is only one of many towns along the national highway in Luzon where the major oil & gas pipeline runs through—and it leads to the massive Pandacan oil depot.

“It’s like they’re lighting a fuse of a bomb,” warned a resident at the AESJ-sponsored community forum on January 13, where the Makati gas leak is a hazardous line leading up to the “bomb that is the Pandacan oil depots.” Over 50 community members from different neighborhoods in metro Manila gathered to infuse energy into the depot relocation campaign. FACES board reps, Aileen & Mari Rose, shared with them research maps and investigative photos of the oil & gas pipeline that traced back to Chevron’s gas plant in Palawan, to Shell’s oil refinery in Batangas, ending in Pandacan. The oil depot relocation campaign truly is a national issue.

As Aileen & Mari Rose toured the massive oil tank field in Pandacan, residents reminded us of their neighborhood’s rich history & culture whose value is beyond the depots. They have the famous author Balagtas, the Aglipayan Church who protested Spanish priest abuses, even the Santo Nino festival (Buling-buling) mentioned in the Filipino folk song “Sitsiritsit”. Pandacan is a gem worth preserving.

Pandacan Leaders Host Oil Depot Forum February 2010

PUP Hosts Anti-Pollution Campaign
Juvien Galano, PUP News, Volume VII, Issue No. 4, February 16-28, 2010

"Implication of Oil Depot to the School and Community Life" was the theme of the forum held at the OVPRD Audio Visual Room of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Mabini Campus on February 7, 2010. This information dissemination campaign is focused on increasing awareness of the threats posed by the Pandacan Oil Depot in Pandacan, Manila.

Leaders from different organizations gathered in this event to give their insights and ideas about what may happen if disasters involving the oil depot arise. The gathering was opened by a presentation of videos from different parts of the world with accidents, primarily explosions, in oil depots.

As stressed by Mr. Tito Roque, board member of Advocates for Environmental and Social Justice, the countries in the video presentaion do not only meet the minimum requirements but exceeded the security and precautionary facilities and processes to ensure their safety from unexpected circumstances.

This is the same contention the organizers of the forum are trying to bring up aside from the depot's proximity in residential areas and schools. Together with AESJ, the College of Arts Department of Psychology Committee on Extension and Community Outreach, Department of Humanities, Institute of Social History/Research Institute for Politics and Economics, Teachers and Employees Association for Change, Education Reforms, and Solidarity, Inc. were all in unity in the call to relocate the oil depot.

Another issue that was raised and should really be taken into serious consideration by the people who run the Pandacan Oil Depot is its age. The facilities in the 33 hectare land, according to Mr. Roque, are already 94 years old and may be wearing out by now.

AESJ secretary general Mr. Sixto Carlos laid all the propositions on the post-relocation phase of the oil depot. Their organization is suggesting to convert the land area, which is currently housed by three big oil companies Chevron (Caltex), Shell, and Petron, for a low cost housing project for the urban poor. Also, a portion of it may be turned into a commercial area, a school, or probably a hospital.

March of last year, the Supreme Court has released a decision in favor of relocation of the oil depot but a counter action was signed by the City of Manila through City Ordinance 8187 that did not only give right to the oil depot to stay but allowed its management to put up another industry in the vicinity of oil depot compound.

To resolve the issue, the concerned organizations promised to continue to fight for the safety and general welfare of the people of Manila and neighboring cities that are also threatened by existence of the oil depots.

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.