LPG shortage artificial - Noli

Vice President Noli de Castro blamed yesterday unscrupulous refillers and dealers of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for creating an artificial shortage and warned hoarders that they would be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law.

The Department of Energy (DOE) had earlier announced there was enough LPG supply in the market, but consumers continue to complain of the scarcity of cooking gas.

“I believe that there is an artificial LPG shortage created by unscrupulous hoarders and profiteers who want to rake in profits to the disadvantage of our consumers. I warn those who are manipulating the market... we will definitely go after you and hold you liable under the law,” De Castro said.

He said the DOE and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have created a task force to investigate and prosecute cases against traders hoarding LPG.

He asked the DOE-DOJ task force to step up its campaign against LPG hoarders after the prices of cooking gas reportedly rose to P80 per kilo from the P45-P50 price mandated by the Department of Trade and Industry.

“I also exhort the people and media to report to us those they know are hoarding and creating this artificial LPG shortage,” De Castro said.

He also urged the people not to go into panic buying, saying that this would only worsen the situation.

LTFRB downplays LPG fuel shortage

Meanwhile, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) downplayed fears of taxi operators in Metro Manila of the possible shortage of auto LPG that might trigger an increase in the prices of fuel in the market.

LTFRB Chairman Thompson Lantion said reports reaching his office showed no shortage of auto LPG fuel in Metro Manila.

“In fact, some of the taxi operators are themselves distributors of the auto gas,” he said.

Earlier, some taxi operators sought the return of the mandatory P10 tip because of the lack of LPG in the local market.

But Lantion said the shortage is only confined to cooking gas and not auto fuel used by taxis in Metro Manila.

The LTFRB chairman also clarified that the P10 compulsory tip was already abolished and any move to restore it would be subject to public hearing and board deliberation.

House backs probe

Speaker Prospero Nograles supported the decision of the House Committee on Energy to dig deeper into the sudden LPG shortage and the increase in retail prices to determine if these were natural results of global market forces or price manipulation through artificial supply shortage.

“Hoarding should be treated as another act of economic sabotage,” Nograles was quoted by his information staff Virgilio Bugaoisan as saying.

Government, he said, has the constitutional mandate to make sure that vital public utilities and consumer goods and services are available and traded in a fair and just environment.

“Business should flourish, but not at the expense of the public,” Nograles stressed as he urged all stakeholders to abide by their “social responsibilities.”

Nograles, alarmed by the recent price increase of P2 a kilo of LPG, strongly endorsed a congressional investigation into the LPG situation in the country.

A congressional inquiry should be the proper forum to compel both private business and those in government to shed light on the situation, he said.

“Finger pointing will bring us nowhere. It’s always the consuming public that would lose,” Nograles said. – With Perseus Echeminada, Artemio Dumlao