Oil company refuses city's "illegal" offer

CEBU, Philippines - Pryce Gases Inc. has rejected the offer of the City of Naga to give its liquefied petroleum gas refilling plant a conditional business permit as the company alleged that it is an illegal act.

This was manifested Monday by PGI's legal counsel, Jennie Cabading, during the hearing of the case it filed against the City of Naga and the City Fire Marshall for the alleged "hasty, precipitate, illegal and malicious cancellation of its Naga plant's Fire Safety Inspection Certificate (FSIC) and eventually its Mayor's/Business Permit."

Cabading said the issuance of whatever license or permit including a business permit, conditional or otherwise, without the FSIC is downright illegal under Section 5 of the Fire Code of the Philippines which the PGI will never condone.

"Pryce Gases never violated any safety requirements under the Fire Code or Implementing Rules. In fact, the defendant City Fire Marshall Vilma Abarquez already committed to reinstate the Fire Safety Inspection Certificate granted to Pryce Gases last January 21, 2014," she said.

She added that her client is entitled to a regular Mayor's Business Permit and not an illegal one like the conditional business permit.

Cabading said the conditional business permit being offered is illegal and "does not cure the due process and equal protection violations the City of Naga and other Defendants have committed against Pryce Gases."

In the hearing last Friday at the Cebu City Regional Trial Court Branch 9, the local government unit of Naga offered the conditional business permit to PGI after Judge Alexander Acosta asked why can't the LGU give the permit when it did give a permit to the Petronas LPG Terminal in barangay Langtad.

PGI has been operating an LPG refilling plant in Barangay South Poblacion since 1997 and went to the court to seek redress for violations of its right to due process which has allegedly been violated when Abarquez canceled its FSIC on May 15, 2014, two days after she issued a Notice to Comply to alleged fire safety violations of the plant.

Cabading said Abarquez seemed lost in canceling their FSIC as the Notice to Comply she issued on May 13, 2014 gave them 15 days to comply with the alleged violations of the LPG refilling plant.

The May 15 cancellation of the FSIC was the basis of a June 19 order by the LGU of Naga the Business Permit of PGI's plant.

The cancellation of the Business Permit was signed by City Administrator Arthur Villamor and noted by Mayor Valdemar Chiong.

The PGI said it is willing to present its witnesses to support its petition for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction against the LGU of Naga and the City Fire Marshall. Another hearing is set on Friday. — (FREEMAN)