‘Smuggling’ of aviation gasoline bared

CEBU, Philippines - At least 160 drums of alleged smuggled aviation gasoline imported from South Korea worth P3,680,000 were found stocked at the Mactan Cebu International Airport.

This was reveal by a certain Jun Paloma, a representative of a Korean company which is one of the recipients of GS Caltex, an aviation gasoline manufacturer based in South Korea.

Paloma spoke with reporters during yesterday’s press conference to make the public aware about the illegal trading of aviation gasoline.

Paloma said the company responsible for illegally importing aviation gasoline and selling it to other business establishments is based in Binondo, Manila.

This company had been reportedly involved in another smuggling activity with a different product.

Paloma said their company, which is into selling of aviation gasoline, has yet to distribute their products since they are still working on their business papers.

“Hindi pa kami nag-distribute kasi eighty percent pa kami’ng kompleto sa mga papeles namin,” said Paloma.

However, he said they received a call from their supposed costumers in February informing them that they already received the aviation gasoline.

With this, Paloma’s company has coordinated with the Department of Energy and with the Environmental Management Bureau.

Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Law states that companies importing and selling any petroleum products should be known by the DOE.

It is also stated in the Toxic Substance Law that any company seeking to import products containing “lead” should register and get an importation clearance.

Paloma said the DOE did not receive any permit of petroleum products to be imported and sold inside the country.

He added that they coordinated with the EMB which said that it has not received requests for importation clearance of products that contain “lead.”

On the other hand, DOE regional director Antonio Labios said they did not receive any reports of smuggled aviation gasoline distributed inside the region.

Labios said this is the first time he heard such case, adding the region has enough supply of gasoline. — Ma. Fatima R. Secuya/LPM (FREEMAN)