Petron sues 3 gasoline dealers for illegal fuel dumping

MANILA, Philippines - Three former dealers of Petron Corp. station in Bulacan and Pangasinan were separately charged with the crime of illegal dumping for allegedly selling illegally sourced fuel.

Illegal dumping is often related to oil smuggling.

In criminal complaints filed before the Provincial Prosecutors Office of   Bulacan and Pangasinan, Petron accused Harry Lim, Zenaida Espinosa and Orlando Umangay with violation of Republic Act No. 8293, the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines.

Affidavits filed, photographs, videos and samples taken from stations belonging to the respondents showed that several product deliveries did not come from any of Petron’s depots.

Umangay, owner of a service station in San Carlos City, Pangasinan allegedly received fuel from a depot in Mangaldan, Pangasinan during the months of November and December last year.

A copy of his purchases from the company vis-a-vis sales volumes from July to October showed discrepancies, with higher sales against volumes ordered from Petron.

His station became a subject of an entrapment operation of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) last Dec. 16 resulting in the arrest of a truck driver caught in the act of unloading illegal fuel.

The case against the truck driver is now pending with the Regional Trial Court of Pangasinan.

Following the operation, the NBI also turned over to Petron some fuel samples taken from the truck seized, incidental to the arrest of the truck driver.

Last  November, several “dumping” activities were also documented at Espinosa’s service station in Urbiztondo, Pangasinan.

The same trucks delivering illegal fuel  to Umangay were seen delivering fuel to Espinosa’s station.

Discrepancies in actual sales versus deliveries made by Petron were noted   from July 2013 to October 2013.

In a separate complaint, Petron said it also noticed illegal deliveries to Lim’s station along Tabang Road, Bulacan, Bulacan from September to November last year.

A check with his orders from Petron against sales from June to September 2013 showed consistently higher sales than what was purchased from the company.

Laboratory tests of the fuel samples from all the stations also “confirmed that petroleum products sold in the service stations do not meet Petron’s and the Department of Energy’s product specifications and standards.”

Following these incidents, Petron terminated the contracts of the three dealers as part of efforts to curb the illegal practice and protect consumer welfare.

Twenty-one other dealers face similar charges for the same offense.

If found guilty, each dealer faces imprisonment of up to five years and a fine of up to P200,000 for violating the provisions of Sections 155, 168 and 169.1 of the Intellectual Property Code.

Early this year, the oil industry has called on the government to go after oil smugglers, as the country is losing at least P30 billion to P40 billion annually in foregone taxes.

Consumers are also duped into buying fuel with questionable quality.