The Office of the City Prosecutor of Manila has dismissed the complaint of West Tower Condominium Corp. against Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and its officials due to the leak of petroleum products from the white oil pipeline of First Philippine Industrial Corp.
West Tower had filed last Oct. 15, 2011 a complaint for violation of Article 365 of the Revised Penal Code against several directors and officers of Pilipinas Shell in connection with the leak of petroleum products from the FPIC white oil pipeline.
Pilipinas Shell used the said pipeline to transport its products from its 110,000 barrels per day Tabangao Refinery to its former Pandacan terminal.
Pilipinas Shell, a customer of FPIC, was not involved in the day-to-day operations of FPIC.
“In the resolution dated February 22, 2017, which was received on March 7, 2018, the Office of the City Prosecutor of Manila dismissed the Complaint for lack of probable cause,” the oil refiner said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.
The Pilipinas Shell resolution stated that the directors and officers of the corporation were not under obligation to operate and maintain the pipeline belonging to FPIC.
“Hence, they are not personally liable for negligence,” the company said, citing the decision.
Residents of the West Tower were evacuated due to health and safety concerns due to the leak in 2010 after it was discovered as the source of the oil that had been leaking into the basement of West Tower Condominium in Barangay Bangkal, Makati.
Prior to its closure, the 117-kilometer Batangas to Manila white oil pipeline supplied more than 50 percent of the petroleum products for Pandacan, considered as the largest and most important depot in the country.
This depot was also ordered closed by the local government but previously supplied fuel to 459 stations in Metro Manila and about 1,800 gas stations in Regions 1 to 4.
