Ed Antiligando (center) Philippine Ecogas Producers Cooperative (PEPCs) COO discusses the cooperative’s expansion plans for their mini cylinder product. | Futch Anthony Inso
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Philippine Ecogas Producers Cooperative (PEPC) plans to expand its operation to the whole Philippines.
Ed Antiligando, Chief Operation Officer (COO) of PEPC, said that their cooperative had already acquired an authority to sell nationwide from the Oil Industry Management Bureau (OIMB) of the Department of Energy (DOE).
PEPC is the only company in the country that is authorized to produce, sell and refill mini cylinder with liquified petroleum gas (LPG) content.
Antiligando said that the company was aiming to provide a safe, efficient, affordable and legal alternative for cooking.
Currently, Antiligando said that they had around 50 traders and retailers from Cebu City and Dumaguete City.
He said he was hoping that they could expand their operations to the whole Philippines.
Read more: DOE Visayas promotes use of small LPG cylinders instead of butane canisters
He said their mini cylinder also aimed to eliminate the use of illegally refilled butane canisters, which had been more dangerous and more prone to accidents such as fire.
Based on their observation, there are around 200,000 pieces of illegally refilled butane canisters that are sold in Cebu per day alone.
The mini cylinder that was produced by PEPC costs around P250 each. The cylinder is made of stainless steel.
The PEPC, however, do not sell their cylinder to their customers but they only ask their customers to pay a P50 deposit for the cylinder and P23 as payment for the refill.
PEPCs refilling station is located in Danao City.
Aside from that, they are also planning to launch a new cylinder made from aluminum by the end of this year which is five times cheaper compared to their stainless steel cylinder.
Antiligando said this would be to ensure that poor families could afford their product.
The aluminum cylinders will be massly produced from China, at around 100,000 pieces per day. The stainless steel cylinders are produced from Vietnam at around 70,000 pieces per month.