The Philippines Department of Energy has warned the public regarding the issues, dangers, and liabilities of selling and buying of petroleum products in bottles of soft drinks or in any portable containers, or the so called, “bote-bote.”
In a recently held Strategic Briefing on PD 1865 and other related laws at Ati-atihan Country Inn here, Engineer Rey Maleza of the DOE-Visayas Field Office, reiterated that retailing of liquid petroleum products shall only be carried out through fixed and permanent dispensing pumps and not from above-ground tanks, tank vehicles, drums, barrels, or bottles.
He said “Liquid fuels are highly combustible, therefore requires proper handling, storage and display; which the bote-bote system is not offering, hence safety is uncertain,” In the bote-bote selling, owners do not apply for permits and licenses especially the safety permit from the Bureau of Fire Protection; and therefore promotes illegal trading, he added.
“It is unfair to those legal retailers who bear the lines and paying the different fees for their gasoline stations,” said Maleza adding that illegal retailers deprive legitimate retail outlets of additional sales volume.
According to DOE, quality and quantity of the petroleum products in the bote-bote scheme are also compromised. “In bote-bote, the source of the liquid fuels are unknown to the public, putting at stake the quality; and unlike to the legitimate gasoline stations wherein dispensing pumps are regularly calibrated, the bote-bote merely depends on the size of the containers, hence quantity is uncertain,”Engineer Maleza explained.
Share this:
