Group asks SC to hold Mayor Lim in contempt if he signs new Pandacan ordinance

MANILA, Philippines — A registered political party on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to place Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim under contempt should he sign the proposed ordinance allowing oil firms to continue their operations in the Pandacan oil depot.

In their motion filed before the high tribunal, the petitioners, Social Justice Society (SJS) lawyer Vladimir Cabigao and Bonificaio Tumbokon, said Lim should be barred from signing Ordinance 7177, which the Manila City Council passed on third reading on May 14.

“The mayor of the City of Manila has indicated that he would sign the draft ordinance into law. He should be prevented by the Honorable Court because for him to sign it into law would be grave abuse of discretion on his part," the motion read.

“The Pandacan oil depot is a nuisance per accidens [nuisance in fact] which must be abated. It has no place in a city which boasts itself as the capital of the Republic of the Philippines. Therefore, Mayor Alfredo S Lim should be stopped from affixing his signature on the proposed ordinance and if he would disobey the Honorable Court, he should be cited for direct contempt of court," it added.

The SJS also said that the proposed ordinance 7177 is hazardous to residents because of the pollution from the oil depot and it also poses danger should any untoward incident occur in the Pandacan terminal.

“The proposed ordinance would admit the presence of highly pollutive and extremely hazardous industries in the City of Manila, under which the oil depot, among others, is classified, endangering the people’s right to a balanced and healthful ecology."

SJS said the proposed measure runs counter Ordinance 8027, which was passed during the time of Mayor Lito Atienza and upheld by the Supreme Court last April.

Ordinance 8027 declared the districts of Pandacan and Sta. Ana in Manila as commercial areas and ordered the relocation of the oil companies’ facilities.

Atienza, now secretary of environment and natural resources, has in the past stressed the need to close the oil depots, warning that they are a magnet to terrorist attacks.