LPG dealers face cartel charges

MANILA, Philippines - The Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) has filed a criminal complaint against officers of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Manufacturers Association (LPGMA) for allegedly engaging in cartelization and monopoly.

FPI chairman Jesus Arranza, in his complaint filed with the Department of Justice, said that “in practice, the respondents have banded together and associated themselves and, by their agreement and/or concerted action, have fixed the price of LPG in the market, in restraint of trade or free competition.”

He named as respondents Arnel Ty, Danilo Chua, Alison Sy, Rene Rosell, Ana Leah Castro, Ronnie Sevillana, Mar Dave Tang, Virginia Cid, Bonifacio Eleria, Orlando Reyes, Allan Ty, Sinforoso Pagunsan and Antonio del Rosario. They are incorporators and/or major shareholders and/or directors and/or officers of corporations dealing in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and operating several LPG gas stations.

They were charged with violation of Section 11(a) of Republic Act 8479, which ensures fair competition to prevent cartels and monopolies in the industry, and paragraph 1 of Article 186 of the Revised Penal Code.

Arranza said the practices of cartelization and monopoly on the part of respondents are evident in several news reports in which the LPGMA officers were announcing adjustments in prices of the same amount and timing.

Arranza said he finds it improbable that being importers, the respondents have the same overhead expenses and inventories that would allow them to adjust their prices similarly and at the same time.

“Do they have the same volume of importation, transaction costs and arrival of shipments? How come you can announce a uniform price? To me it can only be done through an agreement,” he asked.

A petition, in which the FPI is a part, is pending at the Supreme Court seeking the disqualification of LPGMA as a party-list group in the last elections.

In its petition, FPI cited a Supreme Court ruling that “while the business moguls and the mega-rich are, numerically speaking, a tiny minority, they are neither marginalized nor underrepresented, for the stark reality is that their economic clout engenders political will power more awesome that their numerical limitation.”