An ordinance to ban the use, sale and refilling of butane canisters with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is under review by the Cebu Provincial Board.
“There have been recent massive incidents of fire in Cebu province attributed to the explosion of butane canisters causing damage to property and unnecessary loss of life and limb,” the draft ordinance proposed by PB Member Arleigh Sitoy read.
The draft ordinance was referred to the committee on public safety, peace, and order during the PB’s regular session yesterday.
A defective butane gas canister used in cooking was blamed for the fire that destroyed 26 homes and damaged five more in Cordova town earlier this month. The damage was pegged at P1 million.
Unused
Sitoy represents Cebu’s sixth district in the PB. Cordova is part of the district.
Butane refills are popular among consumers because they are cheaper than LPG tanks at only P15 to P20 per canister.
“Some extreme budget conscious consumers have their disposal canisters refilled with LPG and some even purchase from merchants who sell LPG-refilled butane canisters for less than half the price of a brand new unused butane canister,” the ordinance read. Violators caught using these containers may either be fined P3,000, be detained for six months, or both at the court’s discretion.
Those who sell and refill will be fined P5,000 or be imprisoned for not more than one year, or both, according to the draft ordinance.
Accidents
The regional Department of Energy (DOE) earlier called on consumers not to buy LPG-refilled butane canisters.
Regional DOE Director Antonio Labios said the refilling of butane canisters is prohibited by law under DOE Order 2014-01-001 and buying them will encourage distributors to continue doing so.
“The LPG, which is a combination of butane and propane gas has higher pressure compared to plain butane so the canisters are not a suitable container for LPG which can cause accidents,” Labios said.
Penalties for anyone caught selling these products under DOE 2014-01-001 include an administrative case and a fine ranging from P5,000 to P60,000./With Reporter Aileen Garcia-Yap