Authorities confiscated P7.5 million worth of alleged illegally refilled liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanks and refilling equipment in Batangas, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said on Wednesday.
This was the result of an operation last Oct. 9 at Sitio Ibaba in Barangay Natunuan in San Jose town, arresting three suspects, CIDG public information chief Maj. Helen dela Cruz said in a press briefing in Camp Crame.
Dela Cruz did not name the suspects, only identifying them as two males and one female.
‘The danger here, why they were arrested, was they were cross-filling the alleged unauthorized LPG cylinders without a license to operate from the Department of Energy,’ Dela Cruz explained in Filipino.
‘If there is no license to operate, we can’t regulate that. There may be danger to public safety since the cylinders aren’t regulated,’ she added. The suspects are currently under the custody of local police to face complaints of violations of Republic Act No. 5700, which refers to regulations for containers of compressed gases, and RA No. 8293, or the Intellectual Property Cod,e since the cylinders were trademarked.
Dela Cruz added that the public should buy LPG products from registered sellers and authorized refillers. (Jossa Rafoncel Par, INQUIRER.net intern)