Demand for LPG not drastically affected by COVID-19, says former lawmaker

The demand for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the country has not dropped dramatically despite the lower demand for various fuel products amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to former LPGMA Representative Arnel Ty on Tuesday.

"Ang LPG nagyon, in my monitoring, it is down by maybe 20% because of the industrial, commercial demand, malls and other industrial use ay bumaba, pero [sa] household, [it] continues to perform," Ty said in a Senate committee on energy hearing where he was invited as a resource person.

"Dahil sa ganitong crisis, ang pagluluto na lang ang naging libangan ng ating mga consumer kaya po na-compensate ang nawala sa industrial/commercial hub at nailipat sa household," he added.

As a result, the tax contributions of the LPG industry to the Philippine economy has not been adversely affected, Ty said.

The Senate hearing has been held to tackle Senate Bill No. 1188 which seeks to provide the national energy policy and regulatory framework for the LPG industry in the Philippines.

Ty said that under the deregulated environment, players in the industry are "policing their own" and also have to secure various permits from national and local government agencies.

"Our goal is to come up with a unified LPG bill that will be the ultimate regulatory, ultimate promoting bill that will govern the entire LPG industry," Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of the Senate panel on energy said.

The proposed measure seeks to regulate the LPG value chain which includes importation, refining, refilling, transportation, conveyance, distribution and marketing of LPG, as well as manufacturing, requalifying, exchanging, and swapping of LPG pressure vessels. — BM, GMA News