THE three persons caught selling butane canisters refilled with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) were charged by the Parian Police Station with violation of Presidential Decree (PD) 1865 which penalizes the selling of petroleum products without a license from the government
Case investigator SPO1 Antonio Magdadaro told Cebu Daily News that they filed charges against Ramir Amaca, Romeo Appareca, and Romeo Cueva, all of whom are residing in T. Padilla Street, Cebu City but are now at large after Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña reportedly facilitated their release last Friday evening, August 24.
“Ang pag file namo sa tulo at large filing ni siya tungod kay na released naman ni human nga mi ari atong mayor (We filed our case as ‘at large filing’ befause they were released),” Magdadaro said.
Magdadaro said that they are also hoping the City Prosecutor will elevate the case to the court so that the latter can issue warrant of arrests for the three suspects.
Meanwhile Supt. Edhel Periera, Chief of the Discipline, Laws and Order Section (DILOS) of Police Regional Office-7 (PRO -7) said that they will also file charges against Osmeña.
He said they are planning to lodge the complaints against the city mayor before the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas.
“Mag uusap palang kami ni Col.Garma (Cebu City Police Office director, Senior Supt. Royina Garma) but may plano talagang mag fi-file nang cases. Magdepende na yon sa Ombudsman kung ano ang kaso na posibleng haharapin,” said Periera.
On the other hand, Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak urged the Department of Energy in Central Visayas (DOE – 7) to come up with guidelines on how to determine butane canisters refilled with LPG and those with butane gas.
“The responsibility of DOE is to see that all canisters are refilled appropriately with butane gas because as you have noticed, even in supermarkets, butane canisters are also being sold,” Tumulak said.
The councilor also requested the DOE -7 to give the city council inputs and suggestions to help in the passage of a four-year-old proposed ordinance banning the refill of butane canisters in the city, which he authored.
This was his response to DOE – 7’s earlier statement, accusing the city government of not coming up with any initiatives to prevent the rampant sale of illegally refilled butane canisters.
“It was drafted in 2014, and we forwarded the proposed ordinance last August 2016 to DOE for their inputs, their comments and suggestions but until this moment, I have not received any response,” said Tumulak.