The Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Bill threatens to displace close to a million workers involved in marketing, distribution, and refilling of cooking gas, the LPG Marketers Association (LPGMA) on Thursday said.

Arnel Ty, LPGMA president, said Senate Bill 1187 favors Big Three oil companies — Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., and Total – and would kill small players if passed into law.

Senator Manuel Roxas II on Wednesday night sponsored to the Senate plenary the proposed measure.

“If passed into law, 138 re-fillers, 24,000 dealers and 36,000 outlets nationwide would shut down. More than 500,000 workers would lose their jobs. More than three million people would face starvation,” Ty said.

Ty said the measure would favor the Big Three to a dreaded monopoly under the cloak of consumers safety.

“As small players who do business only for survival, the safety of our consumers is paramount to us. Nothing less. We never intend to compromise their safety or harm people who give us the livelihood, we do not cheat them,” he said

He said it is evident that the government chooses to go soft on big oil companies. “Why not implement order of the Commission on Audit to examine their fiscal books?” he said.

“Killing us would allow big oil companies to strengthen their control in the industry and again dictate the prices of petroleum products,” he said.

This would also limit the choices of consumers on where to buy quality but affordable cooking gas.

The Roxas bill would partially regulate the oil industry but this time focusing only on the LPG.

Under the proposed measure, the importation of used or second hand LPG cylinders or containers shall be banned. Violators will be fined with at least P100,000 or P3,000 per cylinder or container, whichever is higher and imprisonment of at least 6 years to 12 years.

And when this happen, Ty said consumers can expect prices of petroleum products to soar in the future.

Ty also questioned how the senator came up with the claim about six million unsafe gas cylinders flooding the local market.

“Where did he get this figure?” Ty asked, as he expressed suspicion that the Big Three had a hand in its passage since it’s near election period.

If these cylinders would have to be destroyed, Ty said consumers would be burdened to buy P9 billion worth of LPG cylinders as replacement for 6 million alleged defective cylinders at a prevailing market price of P1,500 each.

Aside from being pro-monopoly, anti-poor and anti-consumer, Ty said Senate Bill 1187 violates the constitutional rights of small players.

The bill grants government authorities to conduct raids, even without search and seizure warrants, on plants and warehouses of small oil companies on a mere suspicion or unverified complaint that these warehouses and plants store defective cylinders.

“We challenge authorities to conduct raids on plants and warehouses of big oil companies which hoard petroleum products to manipulate pricing,” he said.

Ty again appealed to all senators to think twice before allowing this “monopolistic, anti-consumer, anti-poor and unconstitutional” Senate Bill 1187 breeze through the plenary.