Filipino Americans Challenge Chevron on their Toxic Practices

San Ramon, California – On May 27, the Filipino/American Coalition for Environmental Solidarity joined a delegation of concerned activists and community leaders at Chevron’s annual shareholder meeting. Delegates exposed Chevron’s human rights abuses and environmental damages to investors, and demanded the oil giant address its human rights and environmental responsibilities.

FACES advisor Christine Cordero represented the Philippines as a proxy shareholder, with community leaders and allies of Chevron-affected communities in Nigeria, Ecuador, Richmond, Burma, Kazakhstan, and Canada. Inside the meeting, delegates delivered testimony and the groundbreaking alternative annual report, The True Cost of Chevron, to shareholders, CEO David O’Reilly and the Board of Directors.

Cordero delivered an account of Chevron’s operations in Pandacan, Metro Manila, a densely populated district where Chevron and its partners Shell and Petron operate a controversial oil depot. “Over 82,000 residents in Pandacan are impacted,” said Cordero. “I told O’Reilly and investors that the health of Chevron is not the size of its profit. It is the bodies, lungs, and hearts of the communities that they impact. This is about the health of communities and the long term of health of Chevron, and whether the corporation will choose to ignore the true costs of its operations.”

Pandacan has been called the potential site of the world’s worst petrochemical disaster. Residents suffer from chronic exposure to toxic emissions and the threat of catastrophic spills, fires, and explosions. Since 2006, FACES partnered with Pandacan groups advocating for closure and cleanup of the depot site. In March 2007, the Supreme Court mandated the depot’s removal, citing concerns for human safety. Despite this, the depot continued operations. On May 28, a week after the SC denied further appeals from Chevron and its partners, Manila Mayor Lim signed the contended Ordinance 7177. The ordinance, authored without consultation of residents, circumvents the Supreme Court decision and allows the depot to stay. Proponents say they will continue to challenge the issue.

Chevron is a defendant in a 15-year historic legal battle over the dumping of billions of gallons of toxic waste in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Chevron is faced with complicity in human rights abuses in Burma and connections with the military junta, military violence and shooting of peaceful protestors in Nigeria. In Richmond, where Chevron operates a huge, decades-old refinery linked with widespread cancers and asthma, groups are legally challenging Chevron’s proposed expansion.

“I asked O’Reilly whether Chevron would abide by the law of its host country,” said Cordero. “He gave no response.”

O’Reilly, who said he had heard of the alternative report, sent a clear message to Chevron affected communities around the world, told representatives that their grievances with the oil giant “are an insult to Chevron employees, and should be thrown in the trash.”

Outside the meeting, FACES joined dozens of concerned residents and advocates to stage a vibrant protest against the company's disregard for human rights, health and the environment. Speakers addressed Chevron’s impacts in Burma, Ecuador, the Philippines, Canada, Iraq, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, and the United States. Protestors lofted signs parodying Chevron’s Human Energy ad campaign. Signs for the Philippines read “How many Supreme Court decisions does it take?” and “Chevron, Clean Up in Metro Manila.”