LPG SUMMIT. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) industry players in Central Visayas converge in Cebu City to participate in the first LPG Regional Summit from May 10-11, 2023. Department of Energy-Oil Industry Management Bureau Director Rino Abad on Thursday (May 11) said LPG players in Central Visayas who are holders of standards compliance certificates need to convert these to registration or license to operate to legally continue with their business. (PNA photo by John Rey Saavedra)
CEBU CITY – An official of the Department of Energy on Thursday urged Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) players in Central Visayas to legalize their business operation by securing registration and license to operate (LTO).
Lawyer Rino Abad, director of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oil Industry Management Bureau, said LPG refilling plant operators and bulk distributors must register before constructing their facilities.
Abad said the standard compliance certificates (SCC) issued to LPG players are no longer enough to guarantee the legality of their business operations.
He said marketers, dealers, and retailers should be covered with a license to operate (LTO) before they can legally trade LPG products to the public.
SCC, he explained, must be converted into a registration certificate or LTO as required under Republic Act 11592 or the LPG Industry Regulation Act.
Abad led other government officials in engaging with industry players in Central Visayas during the May 10 to 11 LPG Regional Summit held in a mall at the South Road Properties here that culminated in an open forum on Thursday.
DOE and Department of Trade and Industry officials presented to more than a hundred industry players here RA 11592 and its implementing rules and regulation.
“The old oil deregulation law is no longer applicable. Although this new law has some kind of a regulatory effect but such regulation pertains to safety standards insofar as the LPG industry is concerned. The law does not speak of control as to price and decision on how to go about the business,” Abad said in a press conference at the sideline of the summit.
Jose Rey Maleza, chief of the DOE-Visayas Energy Industry Division Management, said those who will fail to register and obtain an LTO could face an administrative fine of PHP5,000 per day of operation for first offenders, PHP10,000 for second offenders, and PHP20,000 for third offenders.
Those who will fail to comply with the standards will be slapped with a PHP20,000 to PHP30,000 per cylinder as an administrative fine, Maleza said.
Former lawmaker Arnel Ty, program director of LPG Safety Foundation Inc., who authored the law, said among the features of the new measure is the establishment of an exchange and swapping center in every locality.
The purpose of the exchange and swapping, he said, is to allow a consumer to choose which LPG product he wants to use.
He said there are 38 to 45 million LPG cylinders circulating in the country, but the replacement of around 4 to 5 million for being no longer safe for use could be addressed through exchange and swapping program under the new law. (PNA)
