Trade exec: Butane canisters filled with LPG will be seized
City Hall official says Cebu City interagency task force to continue drive
Unless industry rules are changed, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said there’s no chance of allowing the use or sale of butane canisters refilled with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
“Dili gyud puede. Dakpon gyud na. (It’s really not allowed. These would be seized.) It’s mandatory,” said Aster C. Caberte, DTI regional director.
Caberte was reacting to the call of the Cebu LPG Budget Gas Industry Player Association for DTI to test their tin canisters for safety instead of prohibiting them outright.
“I can’t just change the law,” she said.
Based on a 2014 Department of Energy (DOE) Circular, refilling “single-trip” canisters or cartridges that are not designed for LPG is “illegal refilling” and can draw a P60,000 fine for an LPG operator and criminal charges.
The DTI had earlier issued warnings about the hazards of leakage and explosion in using butane canisters loaded with LPG.
An inter-agency task force formed by the Cebu City government to go after illegal butane refillers is conducting an information drive on the hazards of using LPG-filled canisters in coordination with the Association of Barangay Captains.
Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak said he would call a meeting next week to discuss next steps for confiscation.
“I think those (LPG) refilling stations need to read the DOE Circular since they really don’t understand it,” Tumulak said.
The LPG refillers group, with former mayor Tomas Osmeña as their ally, held a press conference on Thursday to call on government agencies to regulate, not ban, the use of butane canisters for
LPG. Osmeña’s camp distributed LPG–refilled butane cans with the “Type O” brand during the 2013 election as part of livelihood projects. Cans with his label are still circulating.
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