By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
Despite calls to avoid hoarding and panic buying of fuel amid rising gasoline and diesel prices, some unscrupulous individuals seem to have exploited the country’s volatile petroleum product supply during the energy emergency.
In an operation conducted by members of the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG), PNP Maritime Group, and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Tuesday, authorities stopped an illegal petroleum trade inside the Navotas Fish Port Complex.
Nine individuals were caught in the act of pumping diesel from a docked vessel onto a tanker parked on the shore. They were apprehended after failing to present required legal documents.
A fuel tanker containing approximately 15,000 liters of diesel, a cargo vessel containing another 15,000 liters of diesel, fuel hoses, and pumping equipment—amounting to 65,000 liters of fuel worth P9.75 million—were seized by the authorities.
The suspects are now under the PNP’s custody and are set to face multiple charges under Presidential Decree No. 1865 for their involvement in the illegal distribution and storage of petroleum products.
This is the latest illegal activity that the police have dealt with after an earlier discovery of a diesel stockpile in a residential area in Quezon City.
As such, PNP Chief PGen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. called for intensified monitoring and enforcement against fuel pilferage and illegal distribution hubs.
This, in compliance with the Department of Energy’s (DOE) earlier directive on ensuring that those capitalizing on the current energy emergency shall be held accountable and liable under the fullest extent of the law.
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