By Sammy F. Martin / Philippines News Agency
INDEPENDENT cooking fuel refillers grouped under the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers’ Association (LPG-MA) on Wednesday announced a P3-per-kilo rollback in prices effective immediately.
“Our new suggested retail price for LPG is now P460 per 11-kilogram cylinder, down by P33,” Party-list Rep. Arnel Ty of LPG-MA said.
Ty, a senior member of the House Energy Committee, projects that the prices of LPG and other petroleum products will likely stay depressed in the near term.
“The downward pressure on the prices is still there, because global crude oil production continues to outpace consumption,” Ty pointed out.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has high hopes that the Senate will soon pass the proposed “An Act Establishing the Regulatory Framework for the Safe Operations of the LPG Industry,” or Senate Bill (SB) 2897.
The House approved its version of the measure—HB 5617—on third and final reading in August.
“We are grateful to our senators for their support. The last time we checked, SB 2897 is now pending approval on second reading, with Sens. Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, Loren Legarda, Jinggoy Estrada and Nancy Binay as authors,” Ty said.
Besides protecting the interests and welfare of consumers, the proposed new law mandates rigorous standards meant to ensure the harmless importation, refining, storage, refilling, distribution, transportation and consumption of the cooking fuel.
Moreover, the measure regulates the manufacture, requalification, exchange, swapping or improvement of LPG cylinders, and provides adequate strategies to guarantee that every tank coming out of a refilling plant has gone through painstaking security checks.
“Once enacted, the measure will go a long way in preventing the unnecessary loss of lives and property due to accidental LPG explosions in residential, commercial and industrial settings,” Ty noted.