July 25, 2019 | 10:10 pm
THE Department of
Energy (DoE) said Thursday that it is cracking down on the illegal trading of
petroleum products, particularly in the Visayas.
In a statement, the DoE
said its Visayas field office dispatched teams in Capiz last week to deter the
illegal in trade petroleum products, which is known as “bote-bote.”
Energy Secretary
Alfonso G. Cusi said the DoE “is on top of the situation with the reported ‘bote
bote’ cases and we are ensuring the safety of the people by monitoring the
quality and quantity of liquefied petroleum gas.”
The DoE said the
enforcement team together with the Philippine National Police raided six large
retailers of liquid fuels in the municipalities of Dumarao, Ivisan, and Roxas
City, which resulted in the confiscation of 16,346 liters of gasoline and 5,644
liters of diesel.
It said criminal cases
will be filed against the nine individuals who were caught selling liquid fuels
without authority from the agency, which is a violation of Batas Pambansa
Bilang 33, “An Act Defining and Penalizing Certain Prohibited Acts Inimical to
the Public Interest and National Security Involving Petroleum and/or Petroleum
Products, Prescribing Penalties therefore and for other Purposes.”
The DoE’s Visayas
office also said that it is strengthening its enforcement activities against
the illegal refilling of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) into non-compliant
containers such as butane canisters. It said several fires caused by these
LPG-refilled butane canisters had been reported across the Visayas.
The department said it
was “in constant coordination with the local PNP and the LGUs as part of
regulatory operations in enforcing the safety standards of petroleum products.”
Separately, the
department said it had created a special task force “to urgently address the
recurring brownouts in Puerto Princesa and other parts of Palawan.”
It said the interagency
coordinating committee and task force was to meet representatives of the
Palawan Electric Cooperative (Paleco), National Power Corp. (Napocor), and
provincial government agencies on Thursday to discuss the progress of the
implementation of their respective action plans.
Mr. Cusi in February
directed the task force to look into the power interruptions in Palawan via a
performance audit and assessment. Its findings included the uncoordinated
protection system of Paleco and Napocor’s distributions lines, overloaded
substations, vegetation obstruction along distribution lines, and the slow
coordination among various government agencies on distribution line maintenance
and improvements. — Victor V. Saulon
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