Petron cuts ties, files raps versus dealers

MANILA, Philippines–Petron Corp., the country’s largest oil firm, has terminated contracts and filed charges against dealers that it claimed had been cheating the company as well as consumers by getting fuel from illegal sources and then passing them off as branded products—an illegal practice called “dumping.”

The company said that as part of its efforts to protect the welfare of the consuming public and stamp out illegal “dumping” at service stations, it terminated the contracts of eight former station dealers and filed criminal charges against them.

Dumping is a form of unfair competition punishable under the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines or Republic Act No. 8293.

Petron said it had filed charges against former dealers in Quezon, Bohol, Pangasinan, Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental, Sultan Kudarat, Gen. Santos City and Ilocos Sur.

The company said it had pulled out all its equipment, branding materials, and ceased deliveries to the eight dealer-owned stations to stop the respondents from cheating the public and curb this illegal practice.

The eight service stations represent less than one half of one percent of Petron’s total service station network of 2,200. Nevertheless, new dealers will be appointed to ensure continuity of supply in these affected areas.

“Petron has been a trusted Filipino brand for more than 80 years and we have been strong advocates of consumer protection and welfare. We will continue to closely monitor our retail network to stop this illegal activity,” Petron said.

The company warned it would not tolerate dumping in Petron stations.

Since 2013, Petron has terminated the contracts of over 30 service station dealers for dumping activities.

The company said regular monitoring of all its service stations pumps led to the discovery of the discrepancies in the respondents’ sales volumes versus fuel products bought from Petron. All respondents were later subjected to surveillance that proved deliveries from sources other than Petron were made.

Laboratory tests conducted on seized fuels also confirmed they do not meet Petron’s and the Department of Energy’s product specifications and standards, Petron said.

“We have been investing in state-of-the-art equipment and systems to further improve our monitoring of dealers’ activities, therefore allowing us to easily detect irregularities,” Petron said. “We also have a special task force that regularly monitors our stations to protect against unscrupulous activities.”

Dumping is a direct result of oil smuggling, which dupes consumers into buying cheaper and inferior fuel products.