House bill seeks phaseout of old LPG cylinders

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives is considering a measure that seeks to phase out old liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders.

The House committee on energy, chaired by Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo, has started deliberating on the LPG Cylinder Replacement and Recovery Bill that would ban old and substandard LPG cylinders within three years.

However, the LPG Refillers Association (LPGRA) has strongly opposed the measure in a letter received by the panel earlier this week.

The group, led by its chairman and president Bernie Bolisay, argued that the measure is anti-poor and simply not feasible.

“This will only affect six million poor families nationwide who are using old and substandard cylinders,” Bolisay lamented.

The LPGRA head revealed that the other six million LPG families have new cylinders and would not be affected by the proposed measure.

Bolisay stressed that the proposal to have substandard LPG cylinders replaced in three years is “not possible” without financial support from the government.

He noted that a similar program was implemented in Thailand where only 1.2 million cylinders were replaced in three years.

“In Thailand, the government subsidized their program so the consumers did not really have a hard time complying,” Bolisay pointed out.

He warned that without government subsidy, the six million poor families would have to shoulder the cost of a brand new cylinder, which costs around P1,500.

The LPGRA chair then proposed a longer transition period for the program, which he sees would take six years and three months under the present circumstances where there are only two manufacturers of LPG cylinders.