SENATE President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada is pushing for early passage in the Senate of a consolidated bill drafted by the Committees on Trade  and  Commerce and on Energy to establish a more effective monitoring and supervisory framework for the liquefied petroleum gas  (LPG) industry.

Estrada explained that the remedial legislation, embodied in Senate Bill 721, aims to “strengthen and enhance existing standards  and mechanisms against deceptive and harmful practices and other hazards to public health and safety arising under a deregulated downstream oil industry structure.”

He pointed out that LPG is a widely used fuel in the country, accounting for a significant portion of the country’s total oil demand. 

According to Estrada, “since Filipino households commonly use LPG for cooking, the safety of LPG use is a concern shared by most consumers.”

He recalled that in the past three years, over 3,000 fires nationwide, leading to loss of  lives and  properties, were attributed to improper or indiscriminate handling of LPG. 

Estrada added that in order to  check  the  proliferation of substandard and defective LPG cylinders, comprehensive legislation is  still needed “to  sustain,  institutionalize,  and upgrade  LPG  industry  standards  and  to  establish  the  supervisory  framework  for the industry’s monitoring system.”

This developed as the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Refillers’ Association (LPGRA) denounced its counterpart measure in the lower chamber, House Bill (HB) 5052, or the proposed LPG Safety Act, as “anti-consumer.”

In a statement, LPGRA President Bernie Bolisay deplored that HB 5052 would” result in the shortage of LPG cylinders.

“The proposed [House] measure only allows the oil majors to continue to dominate and control the LPG market,” Bolisay said, adding that monopoly always hurts the end-user—the consumer.

If HB 5052 were passed, he warned that it would only “perpetuate the monopoly of major oil companies,” adding that consumers would be then denied their rights to choose cheaper and quality LPG, triggering incessant increases in LPG prices.

Estrada pointed out that the bill  shall  also  give  additional  powers  and  functions  to the  Department of Energy,  as the lead  agency,  as  well  as  the  Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of the Interior and Local Government to  enable organized  and  coordinated  efforts  in  the  monitoring  and  inspection of  the participants  of the  LPG  industry to ensure their  compliance  with national  product quality and environmental, worker safety and consumer-welfare standards.

Bolisay explained that the LPGRA is not opposed to requalification of LPG cylinders. But this should be done gradually so that consumers would not be affected by the sudden increase of LPG prices.

“Kung mamadaliin ang pagpapalit ng tangke, tanging ang malalaking kumpanya lamang ang may kakayahang makagawa nito na magbibigay daan upang mamatay ang maliliit na dealers at refillers,” he stressed.

He added that the affected LPG users will be forced to purchase a brand-new LPG tank at a cost of P1,500 each, with an aggregate cost of P9 billion. The 6 million cylinders to be confiscated represent 50 percent of the 12 million in circulation in the market.                                                                                       

Bolisay warned that the eventual confiscation of these cylinders would result in the deprivation of six million household consumers because of shortage of LPG tanks.