Over 2,000 LPG tanks seized in Manila raid

Combined operatives of the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) seized on Friday more than 2,000 tanks of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) allegedly hoarded in a warehouse in Sta. Cruz, Manila, officials said.

NBI spokesman and anti-graft division chief Allan Contado said the raid was made based on information that Francy Enterprises, owned by William Chua, was allegedly hoarding LPG.

Authorities arrested Chua after the warehouse yielded several LPG tanks of different brands and sizes.

Contado said the lawmen seized 1,144 cylinders of 2.7 kilograms of Superkalan, 40 cylinders of 2.7 kg of Gasul, 80 cylinders of 5 kg of TotalGas and 19 cylinders of 11 kg of Shellane.

Also confiscated were 53 cylinders of 11 kg of PhilGas, 46 cylinders of 11 kg of CatGas, 140 cylinders of 11 kg of NorthPoint, six cylinders of 11 kg of Caltex, 294 cylinders of 11 kg of TotalGas, 67 cylinders of 11 kg of Gasul, 78 cylinders of 11 kg of Liquid Gaz, 129 cylinders of 50 kg of Total Gaz, and 43 cylinders of 50 kg of Liquid Gaz.

Operatives also seized more than 400 empty LPG tanks during the raid on the warehouse located at a compound on Benavides street in Sta. Cruz late Friday.

Contado said they are now preparing charges of hoarding and economic sabotage against Chua.

NBI’s Anti-Fraud and Computer and Crimes Division (AFCCD) regional director Vicente de Guzman III said Chua would also face criminal charges of endangering a residential area by stocking up LPG tanks.

Chua is also facing charges of illegally selling other brands of LPG after it was gathered that he was only allowed to sell Total LPG.

De Guzman said Chua failed to present any document detailing an inventory of the LPG stocks.

“We also found a receipt that shows (Chua was) selling (an) 11-kilogram LPG 11 with the amount of P550, which is an overprice,” he said.

De Guzman said they have alerted NBI regional offices all over the country to monitor the operations of other LPG retailers suspected of hoarding.

“This is a national concern,” he said.

President Arroyo earlier imposed a two-week deadline to the DOE to determine the root cause of the shortage of LPG supply.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita warned the DOE would be called to task if the supply fails to normalize by the end of next week.

Malacañang also warned suspected LPG hoarders could face charges of economic sabotage, which carries a penalty of life imprisonment.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez has ordered the NBI to help the DOE in tracking down suspected LPG hoarders.

Sectors are blaming LPG hoarding as the cause of continuing increase in the prices of the cooking gas in Metro Manila.

Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes though assured the public that there is no LPG shortage in the country based on the department’s discussions and inspections of plants of the country’s biggest LPG distributors.

He said the supply of LPG should normalize tomorrow with the reported delivery of 23,000 metric tons.

But consumers continue to complain about the difficulty of purchasing LPG from dealers who are claiming shortage in supply.

On top of the shortage in LPG, dealers are selling P100 above the average price.

Last Friday’s seizure of the LPG in the Manila warehouse virtually confirmed suspicions of hoarding by several retailers in an apparent attempt to control the prices of LPG even as prices of crude oil in the world market continued to decline.

NBI Director Nestor Mantaring said an informant tipped off the agency that Chua was stocking up thousands of LPG tanks in his warehouse in Sta. Cruz.

The NBI formed a team along with the DOE’s Presidential Task Force on Energy Security under deputy secretary Roy Kyamko.

Mantaring said NBI teams conducted a surveillance operation in the area, which confirmed their suspicions of hoarding by Chua.

“Since we do not have visitorial power, we coordinated with the DOE which dispatched a team. Once they arrived, we entered the establishment,” De Guzman said. – With Ted Torres and Marvin Sy