Scrap extra charges on LPG

CEBU, Philippines - Amid the soaring prices of petroleum products, Provincial Board Member Victor Maambong is asking the management of the Pilipinas Shell not to impose additional charges and fees to the price of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to lessen the burden on the consuming public.

 In a proposed resolution, which will be discussed in today’s PB session, Maambong said the move asking Pilipinas Shell not to impose additional charges is for consumers’ safety and fire prevention features it has installed on their LGP tanks.

Data based and derived from the statistics of the Directorate for Fire Prevention, according to Maambong that there were 7,726 cases of recorded fires all over the country, not a few of which were due to “unattended cooking stoves.”

Pilipinas Shell has installed features on their LGP tanks that aimed to achieve such as automatic shut off valve that could prevent LPG leakages and innovative safety caps to deter tampering of LPG tank valves.

“The merits of these features on a product of an almost universal as it would make LPG tanks safer for our consuming public both the households and business or industrial entities,” Maambong said in his resolution. He added Shell merely performed its corporate social responsibility when it added the safety features.

Just recently, the three giant oil companies – the Petron, Shell, and Chevron received flak from Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and business leaders over higher fuel prices in Cebu compared to other cities.

Garcia sued Shell, Petron and Chevron Corp. before the Department of Justice for alleged violation of Section of 11 R.A. 8479 or the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998. The law penalizes cartelization and predatory pricing of petroleum products.

A CCCI survey as of May 15 showed that diesel in Cebu gas stations costs P31.50 per liter, which is P5.75 higher than diesel sold in Manila at P25.75 per liter only. — Garry B. Lao/WAB (THE FREEMAN)