The first ever bucket brigade in the Philippines and Asia has begun!
UPDATE February 5, 2003

	David Dolores lives meters away from an oil depot, which emits ghastly fumes on a regular basis in Pandacan, Manila. His brother died after living near the facilities for many years. David now has the chance to obtain hard evidence of what he is breathing using his air-sampling bucket.
In January of 2002, Francesca Francia, trainer for Global Community Monitor, visited the depot, took pictures, conducted interviews with residents, and researched the depot issue, resulting in a report which was published on this website at www.gcmonitor.org/pandacan and in a newspaper which was distributed in Pandacan. In cooperation with Denny Larson, she then raised awareness and raised funds for the trip back to the Philippines in order to set up the very first community environmental monitoring of the depot which is run by the multinational oil companies Shell, Caltex, and Petron.
	Francesca returned to the Philippines for a month in January of 2003 to train local groups and community members such as David how to use the bucket, other tools, and the media to monitor the depot. The urban poor as well as teachers, students, firefighters, medical technicians, and other citizens in Pandacan, Manila are demanding that the hazardous oil depot, potentially the site of the world's biggest petrochemical disaster, be relocated far away from the district which is home to 80,000 residents, schools, historical sites, and the famous Pasig river. These citizens have begun monitoring their health and environment using the bucket, other tools, and their own tenacity.
In December of 2001, the Mayor of Manila, Lito Atienza, issued Ordinance 8027 reclassifying the depot zone from industrial to commercial meaning that the oil companies' stay there was now illegal. However, in mid-2002, it appears that Atienza softened his stance and, in agreement with the oil companies, came out with a memorandum of understanding (MOU) which stated that the companies were to scale down a total of 28 tanks and set up a buffer zone which would also serve as a park by the end of 2002. 2002 ended with about half of the tanks being decommissioned, but the rest are yet to be done. It is strange that the buffer zone is also to serve as a park. Buffer zones are meant to protect people from the petrochemical tanks, not entice them to come closer.
	The UFO-OD (United Front to Oust the Oil Depot), the local coalition made up of diverse Non-Government Organizations (or NGOs) and concerned citizens, met in early January to strategize for the overall campaign and for the Bucket Brigade.
Present at the first bucket training were 35 people - community members from Pandacan, students and teachers from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP, across the river from the depot), members of the UFO-OD, and other NGOs concerned with general air quality. The whole day training resulted in the very first member list for the Pandacan Bucket Brigade! Eleven people signed up - there were eight sniffers and three samplers. Two of the samplers, Dick Gabac and Tito S. Roque, are also Bucket coordinators. Dick Gabac is a community organizer in Pandacan and Tito Roque works at PUP. Later on, a fourth sampler, David, was recruited from the community and trained. Field training and patrols of the depot began that week and continued the next. There were about ten people present at the field training. Seven people patrolled the depot that day. The next two days of patrols, individual members of the Bucket Brigade went out on their own when they could to see what they could smell. On the last day of the patrols, media attended in full force in response to GCM's press advisory.
	The media did not know it but they were to be taken on a toxic tour of the depots before being given a demonstration of the bucket. Just outside the home of David Dolores, they were shown how close the depot is to his dwelling and told that the facilities emit what smell like toxic gases every night. The last stop was the public road near the Petron entrance. The Bucket Brigade members stood in front of the chain link fence that separated the public road plied by ordinary residents, pedicabs, gasoline-hauling trucks, and vendors. Behind the chain link fence loomed numerous tanks containing flammable petrochemicals. It was chaos as tricycles and trucks tried to pass through the middle of the conference. With haste and skill, Dick Gabac, Bucket Brigade coordinator, and Rhodele Gabac demonstrated how to operate the bucket. Petron security tried to tell Bucket Brigade members they had to leave but David peacefully insisted to the guard that a public road means public access. Despite all the noise, heat, and activity, Francesca and the members of the Bucket Brigade were able to give their interviews to four camera crews and various other media representatives.
The conference was covered on four TV stations on January 21 and landed the next day on the front page of the Philippine Star newspaper, a major national daily. The three oil corporations Shell, Caltex, and Petron came out with a full-page ad the day after that in reaction, it is believed, to the bucket coverage in the media. They emphasized that they were committed to the spirit of the MOU and appealed for understanding and patience while they attempted to meet its requirements. Even if they meet the requirements of the MOU, the general community response is that the depot still is a potential catastrophe and poses a daily health hazard.
	There had not been much media coverage of the pro-relocation campaign before December of 2002. Due to this press conference and the combined efforts of the UFO-OD members conducting other press events, the depot-relocation issue has become much more visible in the media.
Just the weekend before the press conference, members of the UFO-OD had protested at a traditionally festive parade in Pandacan at which the Mayor of Manila, who had softened his stance on the depot issue in June of 2002, was present. The story made it to the media. Soon after, the oil corporations published a full-page ad to try to explain and defend themselves.
	Many other things are happening in the local campaign to relocate the oil depots of Shell, Caltex, and Petron - not just the Bucket Brigade. A lawsuit has been filed. Awareness is growing and people are protesting. As the residents, students, and teachers learn more about their illnesses, a possible disaster looming, and the violations of their basic rights to safety and clean air, they are protesting. Air samples will be taken and a health survey will be conducted. By struggling on more than one front, people are hoping that the depots will move and that they will someday be able breathe easier.