VILLAR PRESCRIBES STRICTER RULES FOR LPG SALE
LPG dealers should have a weighing scale in their stores and LPG manufacturers should provide a standard regulator or outlet

Senator Manny Villar, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, says that with the spate of increases in the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or cooking gas, consumers deserve assurance that the LPG tanks they buy weigh accurately and of high quality.

According to Villar, "Since last year, people have been reeling from the series of increases in the prices of LPG. In fact, the increase is said to be already more than 100 percent from the price level three years ago. In the coming weeks, we should brace ourselves for further increases."

Based on the price tally on the website of the Department of Energy (DoE), as of the first week of June, the prevailing price of LPG in Metro Manila is between P410 to P487 plus 12-percent value-added tax or VAT per 11-kg cylinder.

"With such soaring prices, customers deserve to be assured that the LPG tanks they buy have exact weight and of high quality. It's the least we can do to ensure that the buying public is not shortchanged," says Villar.

Just recently, Villar filed Senate Bill (SB) 2270 An act requiring all retailers of LPG to have a scale or weighing machine in their stores or establishments and SB 2271 An act prescribing a uniform or standard design for the outlet and regulator of the LPG tanks and providing penalty for violation thereof.

Villar cites, "With a scale in stores, the customers will have a way of checking the correctness of the weight of the LPG tank. This will put to rest doubts that some LPG tanks are not weighed accurately. If ever, the weight is found to be lesser, the price should be reduced correspondingly by the seller." Otherwise, violators will be imprisoned by not less than six months and will be fined by P1,000.

Meanwhile, under SB 2271, Villar aims to put an end to the practice of LPG manufacturers of designing the outlet or regulator of their LPG tanks in such a way that it will fit their respective brands only and cannot be used for other LPG tanks.

"By prescribing a standard or uniform design for the outlet or regulator of the LPG tanks, the consumers will have easier access to any brand of LPG tanks, especially in times of shortage in the supply of certain brands of LPG," Villar further cites. Violators of this act will be punished by imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than five years and a fine of not more than P100,000.