The Dutch National Contact Point (NCP) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that sets the guidelines and monitors the operation of multinational
enterprises upheld the Pandacan depot operations of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation (PSPC) to be in keeping with international standards, and also dismissed bribery and corruption raps hurled against the company.

On the complaint filed by the Fenceline Community of Pandacan and the Netherlands-based Friends of the Earth International, the NCP sent its own fact-finding mission to the Philippines last year to investigate the complaints against the depots.

The mission also looked into the purported manipulation of local government in a dialogue initiated by the Department of Energy to address the concerns of the oil firms in the passage of then Ordinance No. 8027 which sought the relocation of the depots; and the alleged environmental hazards of the depots’ operations and its supposed risks to the community’s health, among others.

The NCP mission members were Dr. J.F.G. Bunders and Mr. H. Mulder.

The Netherlands NCP, in its final statement issued on August 31, indicated that it went as far as engaging the help of the Dienst Central Milieubeheer Rijnmond (DCMR) Environmental Protection Agency to visit Shell’s depot “to assist NCP in its evaluation of general safety of the PSPC facility and the environmental management of the PSPC facility at the Pandacan depot.”

In its final statement, the NCP indicated that “the design, including the fire-fighting equipment, level of maintenance, good housekeeping and the operation of the PSPC facility fulfills EU and USA standards”; and adequate and safety and environmental management systems are in place.

The NCP also noted that “for the years (before 2003) in which the alleged violations took place, there are no records of official findings of environmental or health violations by PSPC in its oil depot operations.”

As to the alleged corruption or bribery and manipulation relative to dialogues or engagement with local government officials on a city ordinance affecting the depots, the NCP noted that it has “neither the impression that PSPC was seeking improper exemption from the regulatory framework in order to gain an unfair advantage or special favor, nor that the meetings were intended to improperly intervene in local politics.”

It noted that the complainants should also properly distinguish irresponsible acts from those that are considered acceptable on the sphere of corporate social responsibility (CSR) which are normally intended to respond to the social needs of the communities where companies operate.