DOE sets crackdown against LPG refillers using butane cans

The Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking the help of the police and the Cebu City inter-agency task force in going after enterprises and individuals who refill butane canisters with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

DOE 7 has yet to set the date when it will begin inspecting LPG refillers.

DOE 7 legal officer Mark Russ Gamallo said  they need the local government units to identify the refilling stations.

“The refilling stations are usually backyard because it´s convenient. They´re usually inside households. It´s very hard for us to identify them unless we have a list of names,” he said

Was the Mambaling fire caused by a butane stove, kerosene stove or electrical misuse? Investigators have yet to establish the cause as affected residents tell different stories. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

Antonio Labios, DOE regional director, said they have been hard-pressed to conduct inspections as the agency only has three to four inspectors covering the entire Central Visayas.

¨We´re not only inspecting LPG, we´re also looking at gas stations. We have a very wide scope to inspect,¨ he told Cebu Daily News.

Labios went to the Police Regional Office on Wednesday to, among others, seek assistance in enforcing the rules.  (Read : After fire butane crackdown )

Under DOE Circular No. 2014-01-0001, refilling thin single-trip butane canisters with LPG is prohibited because of the risk of explosion. Violators would face criminal charges and will be fined up to P60,000 for operators.

Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak, who heads the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council which created the inter-agency task force against LPG refillers using butane canisters, reiterated that the DOE should take the lead.

“We urge them (DOE) to enforce the law. We cannot jeopardize the safety of the public,” he said.

“We, in the local government, will just support them by guiding them when going to the barangays and also in terms of manpower. We are also doing information dissemination. The PNP (Police) can also help in terms of manpower,” Tumulak added.

Zaide Bation, consumer welfare division head of the Department of Trade and Industry, said they are willing to assist DOE through a task force.

¨DTI will help DOE in any way we can,¨ she said.

Tumulak stressed that those who are operating butane refilling plants are illegal. ( Read :Trade Exec : Butane canisters filled with LPG will be seized )

He said the DOE reported that no Standards Compliance Certificate (SCCs) has been issued to any firm that refills butane canisters with LPG.

(Read : No guidelines, no charges against butane outlet owner)

At the City Hall, the City Treasurer’s Office has not recorded any business permit issued to an operator of a butane refilling plant.

“Until now, not even one of the suppliers and distributors have applied for SCC in DOE. Even in the CTO in City Hall, they didn’t apply for business permit,” Tumulak said.

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