by Lea Francisco and Tamarah Tilos

As Chito Adolfina, a community activist puts it, the Chevron, Petron, and Shell Oil Depots in Pandacan, Philippines pose the “biggest disaster waiting to happen in the petrochemical industry.”

From a neighborhood rooftop, the presence and impact of the oil companies cannot be ignored. The pungent smells of petroleum linger and the sounds of bustling trucks roar. The oil storage tanks seem within arms' reach of the children playing in the adjacent park, which was given to the community by the oil companies. Dead branches of recently planted palm trees wither in the park and sewage drains expose an abundance of oil sitting just below the ground. The children who play in the park, residents who live near or work in the depot, and students who attend the nearby University are among those who are regularly exposed to hazardous chemicals emitted into the air daily.
Chevron, Petron and Shell Oil Companies own a major oil depot on the shore of the Pasig River in the district of Pandacan in Manila, Philippines. There is no real buffer zone between the depot and the over 84,000 Pandacan residents who are regularly exposed to hazardous chemicals that are detrimental to human health and the environment. Spills on the Pasig River and within the depot have occurred, even within the last six months, according to the Philippine Coast Guard and the Laguna Lake Development Authority.

Although the oil depot was established in 1914, shortly after the Spanish-American War, a series of recent events have struck the adjacent communities and the greater metro-Manila area with a sense of urgency to reclaim their right to a safe and healthy environment.

In 2001, Mayor Lito Atienza passed Manila City Ordinance 8027, reclassifying the depot zone from industrial to commercial, mandating the removal of the depots. Rather than relocating, Chevron, Petron and Shell came into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the City of Manila. The MOU, signed by Mayor Atienza and the three oil companies, legally surpassed Ordinance 8027. The oil companies additionally filed petitions with Manila Regional Trial Court seeking injunctions to suspend the ordinance from taking effect (Alternative Shell Report, 2004). The MOU resulted in a minimal scale down of the depot and the commemoration of the adjacent park that simultaneously serves as a buffer zone.

In 2002, the Asian branch of Time Magazine cited Philippine intelligence officials recognizing the Pandacan oil depot as a target for terrorism after an explosion on a public transit system was traced to a South East Asian-based terrorist group, Jemaah Islamiah.
During the first bucket brigade in the Philippines and throughout Asia in 2003, United Front to Oust Oil Depots (UFO-OD) in collaboration with Global Community Monitor conducted air testing with household materials, such as buckets, throughout the communities that border the fences of oil depots. Professional lab results found alarming levels of benzene in the air.

University of the Philippines College of Medicine (UP) also reported abnormal levels of lead in urine samples and diagnosed the majority of patients tested with median neuropathy or nerve damage. The UP health study also shows a lower rate of neuropathy as the distance from the oil depot increases. Community organizer Dick Gabac said, “The lab results may explain why many residents in the district, especially those living near the depot, are getting sick” (Inquirer News Service, March 28, 2003).

Since the bucket brigade in 2003, catastrophic spills and explosions have alarmed the Pandacan community. In 2005, an estimated 40,000 liters of diesel fuel overflowed from a Chevron-operated pipeline leading from Batangas to Pandacan. In 2006, a single-hull vessel contracted by Petron Oil Company, carrying 528,000 gallons of industrial bunker oil sunk off of the west coast of Guimaras. The spill continues to spread, contaminating hundreds of kilometers of coastline with sticky oil in Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental.

In partnership with UFO-OD, the Filipino/American Coalition for Environmental Solidarity (FACES) recently adopted the CAREnow! (Chevron Accountability & Respect for the Environment Now!) Campaign.
We recognize Chevron's impact in Pandacan as a mere reflection of Chevron's health and environmental impact across the globe, including right here in the San Francisco Bay Area. As US citizens, we are committed to ensuring that US-based corporations are held accountable for the hazards they impose on neighboring and global communities. As Filipino-Americans, we are committed to fighting for the protection of human rights, health, and the environment at home and abroad for the health of our family, friends, and members of our partner organizations.

Through strategies of public education, organizing and activism, and providing technical assistance, FACES' CAREnow! Campaign aims to support the organized fence-line community in Pandacan, Philippines, and demand accountability from Chevron internationally. Our long-term goals include relocation of the Pandacan oil depot, reparations or resources for clean up and health care, and acknowledgement and implementation of Chevron's self-acclaimed Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility Policies.

As we embark upon the upcoming kick-off of CAREnow!, FACES is building relationships with local organizations that also represent communities impacted by Chevron Corporation (i.e. Asian Pacific Environmental Network/Laotian Organizing Project, West County Toxics Coalition, and Amazon Watch). FACES board member Christine Cordero explains, “The movement must be transnational because Chevron Corporation is trans-national.”
In solidarity with Amazon Watch, Amnesty International USA, San Ramon Valley Cares About Ecuador, West County Toxics Coalition, and Californians for Clean Energy/Yes on 87, FACES recently protested Chevron's green-washed conservation awards at Chevron Headquarters in San Ramon. FACES' CAREnow! Committee will continue to pressure decision-makers at Chevron Headquarters with a post card drive. Signed post cards will be sent to Samuel Armacost, lead director of Chevron Board, asking him to hear the concerns of the Pandacan Community.

To highlight Chevron's environmental health impact on neighboring communities transnationally, to build community relationships, and to kick-off the CAREnow! Campaign, FACES is hosting a bike-a-thon and walk-a-thon on December 10, 2006 as part of International Human Rights Day. With the support of local environmental justice organizations like APEN/LOP & West County Toxics Coalition, the bike-a-thon will begin at Chevron Head Quarters in San Ramon, California and end at the Chevron Oil Refinery in Richmond, California. Bikers and walkers will meet at the finish line for a press conference followed by a reception for participants, supporters, and community members.

We have witnessed the impact of Chevron Corporation on Pandacan, Philippines. We know community health is impacted by where we live, work, and play. FACES, in solidarity with UFO-OD and other partners, approaches the CAREnow! Campaign believing people can impact corporations and transform how they do business. The presence and impact of the oil companies cannot be ignored. Now neither can we.

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Lea Francisco and Tamarah Tilos are members of Filipino/American Coalition for Environmental Solidarity, which received a grant from Resist this year. To learn more, contact FACES and the CAREnow! Campaign, 1808 Fifth Street, Berkeley, CA 94710; www.facessolidarity.org.