Senate bill regulating LPG industry endorsed by panel
THE Senate is on track to pass a law regulating the Philippine liquefied petroleum gas industry (PLPGI).
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, Energy Committee chairman, on Tuesday sponsored for plenary deliberations Committee Report No. 160 endorsing early enactment into law of Senate Bill 1955 providing for a National Energy Policy and Regulatory Framework for the PLPGI.
“The legislation we are sponsoring today seeks to regulate and promote an important energy source in our country—liquefied petroleum gas or LPG, as it is commonly known,” Gatchalian said.
Specifically, he clarified that LPG refers to commercial propane gas, butane gas, or a mixture of the two, noting that LPG accounts for 12 percent of the country’s demand for petroleum products in 2019.
“It is a versatile fuel used for many purposes: heating, lighting, and cooking for households, industries, and commercial establishments; and even fuel for motor vehicles, with overall domestic consumption growing at an average of 6 percent annually,” the senator added.
Gatchalian cited updated data of the Philippine Statistics Authority, listing more than 8 million Filipino households or approximately 40 percent use LPG for cooking. This means, he said, that 4 in 10 households depend on LPG daily.
The senator said one possible reason for this is cost, noting that an LPG cylinder of P353 can last a little over a month when used for cooking compared to P441 of electricity used for the same purpose, adding that “this 88-peso difference makes LPG the cheaper alternative by 25 percent.”
So crucial is LPG in a Filipino’s life, Gatchalian noted, “that it is classified as a basic necessity under Republic Act 7581 or the Price Act, and is subject to price freeze during calamities, emergencies, or similar circumstances.”
Despite the crucial role of LPG in the economy, there is still no comprehensive regulatory framework governing the industry, noting that “the existing framework, if one may call it that, is essentially a patchwork of various policy issuances” authored by the Department of Energy, Department of Trade and Industry Bureau of Philippine Standards, other government agencies, and even local government units.
Gatchalian’s Senate Bill 1955, to be known as the LPG Act once enacted into law, seeks to “streamline this patchwork of executive issuances into a clear legal and regulatory framework to govern the Philippine LPG industry.”
The regulatory reforms embodied by the bill would ensure more efficacious health, safety, security, environmental, quality, and competition standards for the benefit of consumers as well as LPG participants, the senator said.
Gatchalian said “safety is crucial because LPG is a highly flammable and even explosive fuel that poses a major fire hazard if not stored or handled properly,” noting that according to the Bureau of Fire Protection there were 1,161 reported fire incidents between 2010 and August 2020 attributed to LPG explosions.