2 men arrested for illegal LGP refilling

These are some of the liquefied petroleum gas tanks and illegally-filled butane canisters that the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group seized in Barangay Pandac, Pavia Iloilo, Oct. 5, 2018. IAN PAUL CORDERO/PN

ILOILO City – Over 2,000 butane canisters, some illegally filled with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), were seized in three separate raids of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Barangay Navais, Mandurriao district here and in Barangay Pandac, Pavia Iloilo yesterday.

Two persons were arrested. They face charges for violation of Presidential Decree No. 1865 that punishes the illegal trading of petroleum products.

According to Inspector Pablo Gentalian, officer-in-charge of the Iloilo City CIDG field unit, the illegal trade was likely going on for quite some time already, “Hindi lang alam na Iloilo City or the whole Panay Island or Region 6.”

’Yung LPG nire-refill sa canister o sa lata. This is very dangerous. The Department of Energy in the Visayas, based in Cebu, has never issued a permit to anyone retail o mag-refill ng LPG or butane,” said Gentalian.

The two suspects separately caught in Barangay Navais were Roger Baro of Barangay Sooc, Arevalo district and Richard Bueno of Barangay Navais.

The third subject, Pablo Miole of Barangay Bolilao, Mandurriao, was not in Barangay Pandac, Pavia but CIDG operatives managed to confiscate butane canisters and LPG tanks around 6:50 a.m.

Still, Miole would be charged with violating of Presidential Decree No. 1865, said Chief Inspector Ferdinand Limbungan, Pavia police chief.

Representatives of the Department of Energy – Visayas were with the police in the three separate raids.

“The canisters used were designed for single use only. Those were not capable of holding LPG because the pressure of butane is different from LPG,” said Atty. Gemco Gabales of DOE.

He urged the public not to engage in this kind of business.

Pandac barangay captain Corazon Pedregosa said she was unaware of Miole’s operation. She thought the subject was selling soft drinks.

Pedregosa said she learned about the butane canister refilling only when the CIDG invited her to witness the raid.

In the two separate raids in Barangay Navais, Baro was arrested around 9:30 a.m. after the search turned positive.

Seized were 550 LGP-filled butane canisters, 810 empty canisters, 35 LPG tanks, refilling cartridges, and weighing scales.

Bueno, on the other hand, was arrested an hour after. CIDG operatives confiscated 146 LGP-filled butane canisters, 74 empty canisters, 13 LGP tanks, refilling cartridges, and weighing scales.

The search warrants against Baro and Bueno were issued by Executive Judge Anne Beatrice Aguana-Balmaceda of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities, Iloilo City.

The two suspects were detained at the Mandurriao police station.

Meanwhile, the search warrant against Miole was issued by Presiding Judge Rodolfo Convocar of the Municipal Circuit Trial Court in Santa Barbara, Iloilo.

The CIDG seized 1,008 LGP-filled butane canisters, 1,204 empty canisters, 1,344 empty plastic soft drink cases, 18 LGP tanks, refilling cartridges, digital weighing scales, and motorcycle with sidecar loaded with canister cases.

Punishment for violation of Presidential Decree No. 1865 include a fine of between P20,000 to P50,000, imprisonment between two to five years, or both fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court./PN

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