Address lack of policy stability, gov’t urged

Various business groups are urging the national government to resolve not only the Pandacan oil depot issue but the more important underlying concerns regarding the seeming lack of stability and consistency in government policies and regulations.

In a joint statement, the Management Association of the Philippines, the Makati Business Club, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines noted that there was growing anxiety over what the Pandacan oil depot case had come to illustrate.

“The Pandacan oil depot’s case is but one of various instances where unclear policies and the midway changing of rules by government agencies and local government units have led to reduced or even lost opportunities that would have benefited the economy, host communities and the public,” the statement read.

“Though the Philippines continues to improve its competitiveness rankings, the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013 still lists policy instability as the fourth most problematic factor for doing business in the country,” it added.

The groups pointed out that the “lack of stability and predictability in policies and regulations can only serve to erode the renewed confidence and trust in our governance institutions that President Aquino has painstakingly built under his administration.”

The three oil companies—Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and Chevron Philippines—have since been under pressure to move their operations out of the densely populated area where the Pandacan oil depot in Manila is located due to safety concerns raised by various cause-oriented groups and the Church.

The move was supported by the City Council of Manila, which overruled only last September Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim’s decision to veto Ordinance 8283, which would have effectively mandated the relocation of the oil companies’ depot operations out of Pandacan.

Early this month, Lim decided to veto Ordinance 8283 for the second time, which meant that the groups seeking to shut down the Pandacan oil depot would now have to bring their petition to Malacañang.

Lim said he was against the closure as it might be taken “as a sign of political immaturity and would [make] a bad impression [on] businesses and investors who rely on stability and predictability of government actions.”

MAP, MBC, PCCI and Ecop all pointed out that there was a possible emergence of a new set of concerns should the relocation of the Pandacan oil depot outside Metro Manila push through.

“We will have to contend with increased risk of road accidents, product spills and threats to security for the tankers and the public. It will also mean higher logistical costs, which must, in fairness, be passed on to consumers,” they explained.

“We note that apprehensions over the security of the facility and the safety of the surrounding residential community are at the forefront of the decade-long debate over the Pandacan oil depot. While our primary role is to create economic wealth, we also give the highest regard to the responsible and sustainable conduct of our business,” the groups added.

Pandacan is considered the largest and most important depot in the country, supplying 70 percent of the needs of the country’s shipping industry, 90 percent of the transport sector’s lubricant requirements, 75 percent of all aviation fuel needs and 25 percent of the demand for chemicals.