PRO 7 Backs DOE 7 in Drive Against LPG-refilled Butane Canisters

The Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 is backing the Department of Energy (DOE) 7 in the crackdown against illegal butane canister re-fillers and dealers in Central Visayas.

Chief Superintendent Prudencio Tom Bañas, PRO 7 director, said they can assist the DOE 7 personnel in any raid the agency would initiate.

Banas said he suggested to DOE 7 Director Antonio Labios to create a task force “to address the problem as one.”

The task force will be composed of the police, Bureau of Fire Protection, DOE and the local government units.

Bañas said the DOE has the list of traders who are licensed to sell butane canisters.

Labios has urged the public not to refill their empty butane canisters with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) because these pose a danger to explosion or fire.

He cited a DOE circular, which stated that canisters should only be used once.

Labios said refilling a butane canister would be very dangerous because a butane canister has little pressure compared to LPG.

”If one refills a butane canister with LPG, there is a possibility it will explode and cause fire,” he said.

Labios said ahe DOE issued a circular in January this year making it illegal to refill LPG into “single trip and/or tin canisters or cartridges not designed or intended for LPG” and raising fines for retail and distribution from PHP1,000-PHP3,000 to PHP50,000-PHP60,000.

Last Nov. 3, eight employees of a home-based refilling station of Amor Pelenia in Barangay Kinasang-an Pardo, Cebu City were injured when stocks of butane canisters exploded. (PNA) CTB/EB/RSM