Messages from Houston

Aileen Suzara writes from Houston:

It's the second day in Houston. With FACES and our Manila partners, I've come here to join the story and the fighting spirit of the Philippines fencelines FACES partners with, together with communities around the globe - from Nigeria, Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Angola, Nigeria, Colombia, Iraq, Alberta, and from Richmond to Houston, USA. 

It's one powerful mix of people. In two days, we have already spoken to media at a press conference, voiced our stories at a public teach-in, and stood our ground outside and within Chevron's offices.

This morning, we woke early to stage a powerful action within and outside the Chevron Annual Shareholders Meeting. Waiting in line to enter the meeting, it was heartbreaking to witness dozens of allies denied access to the meeting, despite having legal documents as shareholder proxies. While a powerful sit-in was staged outside, a handful of us allowed into the meeting.

Inside the meeting, Chevron affirmed its continued profits despite the economic downturn. It praised its "Chevron Way" of respecting human rights, the environment, and claimed it improves the quality of life "everywhere it operates." There was a filmscreening of Chevron funded health clinics in Africa. But while intended to pull our heartstrings, we were not fooled. Our team of seven delegates took the floor and clearly delivered the call for accountability to Chevron representatives and stakeholders. 

We closed out the meeting with chants of "Chevron Lies, People Die" until the meeting was abruptly ended and the True Cost of Chevron lead editor, Antonia Juhasz, was arrested. Outside the meeting, where a nonviolent rally continued throughout the meeting, several activists were arrested for speaking truth.

Exhaustion, elation, outrage for our disenfranchised allies courses through my body. I'm proud to be here in solidarity with the Philippines, and humbled to be in the company of such courageous people - from a 71 year old grandmother from Ecuador speaking out about Chevron's poison pits, to Native youth from Canada speaking of Chevron's toxic extraction at ground zero. 

These are the toxic trails linking the depot in the Philippines with communities across the globe. And as the BP oil spill continues, it is a stark mirror for many Americans of the everyday issues faced by Global South and poor communities around the world.

"Our future and our destinies are connected - whether we like it or not," testified an Angolan activist to Chevron CEOs. So, too, is the fate of communities resisting Chevron. What we have gleaned out from this toxic tragedy is a great strength, and an even stronger drive to build our collective power. There is just too much at stake.

I'm excited to return and report to our friends and allies in the Philippines and with FACES. We must all work together to open more minds and hearts to the true costs of Chevron. More to come...

The Pandacan Oil Depot: A Disaster Waiting to Happen

An Urgent Appeal From Advocates for Environmental and Social Justice (AESJ)

The disaster caused by the BP oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico is another stark reminder that the potential threat of deadly accidents from technical failure or human error and terrorist attacks in these oil industry facilities remain a constant reality. No amount of assurances about technical safety in accord with international standards can ensure 100% security to life, the environment and the economy. At this point, one can only take measures to mitigate the deadly consequences of such accidents and attacks. Unfortunately, oil companies like Chevron, despite much advertised avowals of social responsibility, continue to ignore such precautions especially in developing countries like the Philippines.

At the heart of Manila, spanning 36 hectares, lies a ticking time bomb, the Pandacan oil depot, owned and operated by Chevron together with Shell and Petron, a locally-owned company. Containing 313 million liters of gasoline, diesel, bunker fuel, jet fuel and other highly volatile chemical substances, the giant facility, one of the largest in the world, lies amidst populated areas, sprawled along Manila’s Pasig River system that, by a short distance, reaches out to the country’s principal harbor in Manila Bay and Laguna Lake, the country’s largest inland body of water. A major explosion in the Pandacan oil depot has the potential of wreaking havoc not only in the immediate surrounding communities but also in these water systems with the communities along its banks and the transport, trade and industry that it serves.

Unfortunately, the Pandacan oil depot has no real buffer zone to speak of. Some years ago, as a reaction to protests, Shell and Petron belatedly put a farcical “buffer zone” of 8 to 15 meters, which they even cynically turned, into so-called “linear parks” for the surrounding communities’ leisure and recreation! For Chevron, the loading bay for its tankers fronts the main and busy thoroughfare of Pandacan and together with its storage tanks lie just a wall away from a church-run high school of 3000 students and a populated community.

Accidents have occurred in the past within and outside the Pandacan oil depot including explosions along its pipeline from nearby Batangas province, leaks in its storage tanks, and exploding tankers on the road. These accidents have claimed lives, injured many and destroyed substantial property. But they are as yet simply lucky close calls. In much smaller facilities in US, UK, Canada, Puerto Rico, India and elsewhere, technical failures and human error have triggered massive explosions which spread out as far as 2 to 3 kilometers away. Add to this the ongoing and very real threat of terrorist attacks. A similar blast in Pandacan could potentially the biggest disaster waiting to happen in the petrochemical industry.

Many proposals in the past to relocate the depot have mysteriously been abandoned or circumvented. The more recent, more progressive and bold ones have been Manila City Ordinance 8027 and Ordinance 8119. These city legislation gained strong and popular support, the former even having been affirmed and praised in a remarkable decision by the Philippine Supreme Court for putting primacy to right to life (of residents) over right to property (of the oil companies). The high court's decision would have allowed the gradual but definite phase and relocation of the oil depot to a safer place.

The hard-won victory of the people was however reversed immediately. City Ordinance NO. 8187 was railroaded, in the guise of a zoning ordinance, permitting the introduction into Manila of highly pollutive and extremely hazardous industries to accommodate the continued stay of the oil depot in Pandacan. Instead of protecting the environment, the safety and health of the people, the continued stay of the depot serves the interests of the oil companies.

Clearly, oil depots are never safe from technical failure, human accidents or terrorist attacks; the only safe measure that can be adopted is for the oil depot to be located in an area with a proper buffer zone from the nearest communities. 

ALTERNATIVES: An appeal for life and the environment

Phase out and relocation of the Pandacan oil depot to a safer place is the only answer. The area occupied by the depot can then be developed anew and pave the way for the establishment of commercial enterprises, service institutions like schools, clinics or a hospital, recreational and cultural facilities as well as affordable housing for the urban poor of Manila. The possibilities for development as well as new and much greater employment opportunities are varied and numerous.

To avoid disaster and to uphold life, health and the environment with these alternatives, we appeal to Chevron’s AGM to swiftly and decisively take the lead in working out a phase-by-phase plan to relocate the Pandacan oil depot to a safer area. We propose that Chevron AGM set up a special commission which will, together, with relevant US NGOs concerned with the Pandacan oil depot issue as well as with Pandacan stakeholders, undertake an investigation of the actual situation of Chevron’s facility in Pandacan and explore appropriate sites and requirements for the soonest possible relocation.

Advocates for Environmental and Social Justice (AESJ)

Manila, Philippines

FACES on the Road to Houston, Face-Off with Chevron

From Manila to the SF Bay to Houston, FACES will connect Chevron’s toxic trail to the oil giant’s shareholders annual general meeting (AGM) on May 26, 2010. Historically hosted at their world headquarters in San Ramon CA, Chevron shifted its AGM location this year, trying to escape the protester stronghold of the San Francisco Bay Area. But the protest is going to follow them to Houston!

FACES Board Chair, Aileen Suzara, will join an international delegation of the True Cost of Chevron Network converging in Houston to face-off with Chevron inside the AGM (as proxies) and outside the gates with a colorful protest. Aileen will carry messages and visuals from the frontline communities of Manila to continue to demand that Chevron relocate their massive oil depots. FACES will combine our Filipino struggles with the many others around the globe — Nigeria, Ecuador, Burma and more — who are all campaigning to get Chevron to take responsibility for the harm it has inflicted on a multitude of communities and countries.

Even in struggle, FACES will find solidarity with the many representatives around the world organizing against Chevron. This year will mark the first of an international strategy session. We know that these fights will take years. But with each year marked by the AGM gathering, we will also have the chance to hear directly from allies about advances in each other’s campaigns.

FACES will tell our allies about our progress over the last year. We will them how we were able to step into Chevron’s world headquarters in September 2009 and register our depot relocation demand directly with US & Philippines-based managers of Chevron. We will them how we were able to prevent the US Secretary of State from handing Chevron Philippines the Award for Corporate Excellence. And how frontline community groups like Advocates for Environmental and Social Justice (AESJ) were able to mobilize thousands of Manila voters to oppose the oil depot with a strong People’s Initiative petition. There is much to tell.

And as oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico, as the burning of oil pollutes the air we breathe, and as people fall ill from oil operations around the world, we will make our way to Chevron’s meetings. We will go wherever Chevron holds its AGM because we have to counter the corporation’s glossy reports with our communities’ realities. There is a cost to Chevron’s profit, and the accounts of the devastation of our communities must be told — to shareholders and the public. So Houston, here we come!

Help FACES Build Filipino/American Leadership!

Please vote for our project on Brighter Planet, and help FACES win a $5000 Project Fund!

Face2Face is a service learning program dedicated to developing environmental justice leadership among young Filipino/Americans and allies.

Through cross-cultural education, Face2Face participants learn firsthand about environmental justice struggles that connect California and the Philippines, and are empowered to turn education into action.

The lives of frontline communities on both sides of the Pacific are directly impacted by the practices of big oil companies including Chevron. We’ve joined with Bay Area organizations like the Asian/Pacific Environmental Network to deepen awareness of local struggles against big oil. Residents lead Face2Face participants on “toxic tours” neighboring Chevron facilities in Richmond. They learn how residents organize to defend their health and environment, and efforts to build healthy alternatives.

Participants travel to the Philippines to spend two weeks exchanging, living with, and deepening relationships with FACES’ partner communities, which include civil society, women’s groups, youth, elders, and indigenous community members. We not only learn how their land, air, bodies and water are polluted by multinational corporations like Chevron, but build alliances to take action back home.

Face2Face has lasting impacts beyond the program. Participants share personal experiences through a community event and workshops at schools, universities, and community centers. Many alumnae go on to become leaders with FACES’ Chevron Campaign, which joins with Bay Area and Manila communities to pressure Chevron to clean up their operations and be a good corporate neighbor.

We’ve seen alumnae continue on with research, author reports on Chevron’s impacts, and develop popular education curriculum like “Big Oil, Toxic Neighbors: A Legacy of Danger” which encouraging participants to reflect on their relationship with oil and understand energy issues through a personal, local and global lens.

FACES sees Face2Face as a crucial part of the climate justice movement. From across the Pacific, we witness communities taking bold action against environmental and climate destruction. Focusing on the Filipino/American experience, we develop the voice of our underrepresented communities, so we can take action together on the issues that affect us all.

FACES seeks $5000 to allow Face2Face to continue for it’s 6th year. We are led by committed volunteers, and funds will go towards program costs for participants who would otherwise be unable to attend and educational community events.

$1500: in-country costs for 3 participants
$2700: US-Manila roundtrip airfare for 3 participants $300: 1 reportback event for 150-200 community members
$300: 5 community workshops $200: art supplies (photos, etc)

In addition to Brighter Planet funds, we will seek donated resources including local venue space and food donations.

This program is a success if we can:

1) Engage participants in meaningful discussions and build relationships with communities in both the Bay Area and the Philippines
2) Hold a successful trip reportback, “Balikbayan” (“Returning Home”) that reaches 150-200 Bay Area community members, and 5+ community workshops
3) Continue engaging alumnae in local Chevron Campaign and climate justice activism

With the support of Brighter Planet, Face2Face will engage the Filipino/American and Bay Area community to build climate justice for us all. Thanks!

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.