Three ordinances, two mayors, and a long history that stretches back to 1907. The question today: To depot or not to depot in Pandacan, Manila.

Unilever set up its plant on Otis St. in 1907, followed in 1914 and 1917 by the oil companies that built their depot a short distance away.

The Supreme Court’s decision, according to Mayor Fred Lim, leaves the door open for the city government to classify or reclassify the depot for zoning purposes, which is why the case is now with a Manila court awaiting an interpretation that could take years.

Take years to phase out “but not forever,” is what Manila Archbishop Cardinal Rosales wants. Not content with the Church’s opinion, the mayor sought the GMA Cabinet’s position. They met at the depot last week, and nine of them sat down with the mayor and stakeholders.

One executive noted how the secretaries spoke with “more than one voice,” all cacophony and no consensus.

“It just fell on my lap,” the mayor told “Bulong Pulungan” at Sofitel, “and as long as my decision is not illegal and does not go against the greater good for the greatest number, I stand by it.”

Citing the greater good, he said:

1. One glaring alternative to the removal of the depot: 500 tankers bringing oil daily from the refinery in Batangas to the narrow, clogged streets of Metro Manila.

2. The depot is safe and secure, but what those measures are is a secret, or what’s a security shield for?

As the mayor told the GMA Cabinet, “Why are we meeting here, if you think this is not a safe place?”