Bulacan vice mayor's son, ex-cop linked to illegal LPG trade

MANILA, Philippines - A Bulacan vice mayor’s son and a retired police chief inspector are reportedly behind a large criminal enterprise engaged in the widespread short-filling of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders in Metro Manila and Central Luzon, a congressman said yesterday.

“The syndicate has been snatching the cylinders of legitimate LPG traders from the open market, and then fraudulently short-filling and reselling the tanks,” said Rep. Arnel Ty of the party-list group LPG Marketers’ Association.

“We are also looking into reports linking the gang to the hijacking of fuel tanker trucks in Bataan, Pampanga, Bulacan and Laguna,” he added.

The Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) has already identified the vice mayor’s son and the retired officer and is now investigating them, Ty said.

He said the syndicate runs several illegal LPG refilling stations in Metro Manila, Bulacan and Bataan.

“The rampant short-filling of LPG cylinders is a nefarious trade, especially because it tends to victimize poor households that buy LPG by the kilo,” he added.

He noted that consumers who cannot afford to buy an entire 11-kilogram cylinder and who buy cooking gas in smaller volumes are the ones being cheated by the syndicate. Ty said he expects the CIDG’s anti-fraud division to take swift and direct action against the syndicate.

He said the gang was the source of death threats he and his family have been receiving.

He said he would ask the House committee on public order and safety, of which he is a member, to investigate the syndicate’s illicit activities once Congress reconvenes on May 7.

Ty’s party-list group has been fighting to suppress crooked LPG trade practices, including short filling and the proliferation of substandard and unsafe cylinders.