THE Department of Energy (DOE) has urged drivers and other workers to refrain from transporting canisters refilled with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or they will be arrested.
DOE Visayas Field Office Director Saul Gonzales said that police have filed cases against illegal canister refillers and traders.
Those who will be found guilty, Gonzales said, will be penalized up to five years in prison.
Gonzales then lamented that illegal refillers and traders are raking in huge profits from an illegal business while risking the safety of their buyers.
He said using these products may cause fires.
DOE is now coordinating with the Bureau of Fire and Protection (BFP) to determine whether LPG canisters were involved in a recent fire in Barangay T. Padilla St. in Cebu City, which gutted 50 houses.
Volatile
According to Gonzales, the selling of butane canister is allowed but refilling it with LPG is illegal because it will easily explode.
"Butane is an LPG product but it is of low pressure that can be stored in a thin can. The LPG itself is a mixture of butane and propane, which is stronger and can explode when refilled in a thin canister," Gonzales said. (EOB)