ORDINANCE NO: 2023-557 (Authored by Honorable Sam Tyra F. Co) "AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING GUIDELINES GOVERNING THE CALIBRATION AND SEALING OF DISPENSING PUMPS OF LIQUID PETROLEUM PRODUCTS RETAIL OUTLETS IN THE CITY OF PAGADIAN, PRESCRIBING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION THEREOF AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES" NOW, THEREFORE, Be it ordained by the Sangguniang Panlungsod (14th City Council) of Pagadian City in session assembled that: Section 1. Title. - This Ordinance shall be known as "An Ordinance Providing Guidelines Governing The Calibration And Sealing Of Dispensing Pumps Of Liquid Petroleum Products Retail Outlets In The City Of Pagadian, Prescribing Penalties For Violation Thereof And For Other Purposes." Section 2. Coverage. - This Ordinance shall apply to all persons, natural or juridical, engaged in the business of retailing Liquid Petroleum Products in the City of Pagadian. Section 3. Definition of Terms. - For the purpose of this Ordinance, the following terms or phrase shall be construed to mean as follows, to wit: Adulterated - refers to an impure gasoline due to addition of a foreign substance or Inferior ingredients or the presence of water or other inferior ingredients co-mingled in gasoline debasing its quality; Bote-bote - refers to the manner of retailing liquid petroleum products in soda bottles, plastic containers, jugs and other similar containers not intended or suited for storing, handling or dispensing liquid petroleum products; Calibration - refers to the act, method, or process of: (a) testing the accuracy of a dispensing pump meter used in delivering liquid petroleum products; or (b) measuring the actual quantity of liquid petroleum products being dispensed is within the tolerable minimum quantity as determined under the Department of Energy (DOE) Rules and Circulars; Deliver/Sell - refers to the act of knowingly passing, giving or transferring of possession of liquid petroleum products by the retail outlet to the end user whether for money or any consideration; DOST-ITDI - refers to the Department of Science and Technology-Industrial Technology Development Institute; Illegal Trading - refers to the sale or distribution of liquid petroleum products for profit without license or authority from the government; non-issuance of receipts by licensed traders; misrepresentation as to quality and/or quantity and sale by oil companies, distributors, and/or dealers violating government rules and regulations; Liquid Petroleum Products - refers to petroleum products that are flammable liquids such as: kerosene, gasoline and diesel and combustible liquid products formed in the course of refining crude petroleum through distillation, cracking, solvent refining and chemical treatment coming out as primary stocks from the refinery and sold through retail outlets; provided that Liquid Petroleum Products to Class I flammable liquids with a flash point before Thirty-Seven and Eight Tenths (37.8?) Degrees Celsius and Class II flammable liquids with a flash point at or above Thirty-Seven and Eight Tenths (37.8?) Degrees Celsius; Combustible Liquid Petroleum Products with a flash point at or above Sixty (60?) Degrees Celsius; Retail Outlet - refers to a gasoline station, business establishment or facility which sells or dispenses gasoline directly to individual end-user/s or to the public; Retailing - refers to the act of selling and/or dispensing of Liquid Petroleum Products directly to individual end user/s or to the public; OIMB - refers to Oil Industry Management Bureau; PNS - refers to the Philippine National Standard; Section 4. Mandatory Calibration and Sealing of Dispensing Pumps. - There shall be mandatory requirement of calibration and sealing of all dispensing pumps used in the retailing of Liquid Petroleum Products in the City of Pagadian, subject to the following guidelines, to wit: All dispensing pumps used in the retailing of Liquid Petroleum Products within the City of Pagadian must be properly inspected and regularly calibrated quarterly or every three (3) months and sealed by the proper authority subject to the imposition or collection of fees specified under Section 7 hereof. All dispensing pumps that are not calibrated and/or sealed or go off calibration shall be marked with an "OUT OF ORDER" sign and shall not be used until the same shall be calibrated and sealed. All calibration shall be documented and signed by the City Treasurer, or his/her authorized representative performing the calibration and countersigned by the Retail Outlet. After the calibration, a sticker provided by the Office of the City Treasurer having a dimension of One and One-Half (1 ?) Inches and bearing the date of calibration and the signatures of the personnel who calibrated the dispensing pump shall be posted on the face of the dispensing pump calibrated. All Retail Outlet shall provide and maintain in their establishment a DOST-ITDI Calibrated and Sealed Calibrating Bucket for use in the calibration of dispensing pump used in the retailing of Liquid Petroleum Products. The calibrating bucket must be calibrated and sealed once every twelve (12) months. All dispensing pumps shall be tested daily not later than 9:00 o'clock in the morning for accuracy in the delivery of Liquid Petroleum Products using the calibrating bucket. For record purposes, the daily testing must be recorded in a log-book available for reference by the public and inspection by the proper authority. All dispensing pumps that fail to deliver correct and accurate quantity shall be marked by the owner/operator with an "OUT OF ORDER" sign and padlocked and shall not be used until the said dispensing pump is recalibrated and resealed by the City Treasurer or his/her authorized representative. Section 5. Authorized Person to Conduct Calibration and Sealing of Dispensing Pumps. - The City Treasurer or his/her authorized representative will undertake the proper calibration and sealing of dispensing pumps used in the retailing of Liquid Petroleum Products within the City of Pagadian. Section 6. Service/Maintenance Contractors. Exception to the Rule. - In the event that the proper authority is unable to calibrate and reseal a dispensing pump meter within two (2) business days from the date and time of reporting by the Retail Outlet, the service/maintenance contractors of the oil company may calibrate the dispensing pump provisionally, subject to the final calibration by the City Treasurer or his/her duly authorized representative who shall impose the corresponding fees provided under the next preceding Section. The service/maintenance contractors performing the calibration provisionally shall install a seal to guard against unauthorized adjustments of the dispensing pump, which seal should not be broken or removed until the final calibration of the proper authority. Section 7. Fees and Charges. - There is hereby levied for the calibration and sealing and testing of every Liquid Petroleum Products dispensing pumps, viz: a. Calibration and Sealing and Testing P100.00 pump b. Sticker P100.00/sticker Section 8. Prohibited Acts. - It shall be prohibited for any retail outlets to engage in an under-delivery and/or short selling as well as illegal trading of Liquid Petroleum Products within the territorial jurisdiction of Pagadian City. 8.1 Under-delivery and/or Short Selling of Liquid Petroleum Products by Dispensing Pumps. - For purposes of this Ordinance, there shall be under-delivery and/or short selling of Liquid Petroleum Products by any dispensing pump when it shall be found to have delivered or dispensed less than the tolerable minimum quantity of minus fifty (50) milliliters for every ten (10) liters of liguid petroleum products as measured by a calibrating bucket certified and sealed by the DOST. As a matter of procedure to properly measure the liquid petroleum products, the calibrating bucket shall be filled with ten (10) liters mark three (3) times at low medium and fast flow rates and the average quantity shall constitute the quantity to be compared with the actual quantity of ten (10) liters. After the proper measurement, if the dispensing pumps of liquid petroleum products has been found to have delivered less than the tolerable minimum quantity, the same shall be immediately padlocked with an "OUT OF ORDER" sign posted and shall not be used until the said dispensing pump is recalibrated and resealed by the City Treasurer or his/her authorized representative. 8.2 Illegal Trading. - There shall be Illegal Trading when the following is committed, viz: 8.2.a When the Retail Outlet failed to have its dispensing pump meter calibrated and sealed by the proper authority; 8.2.e When the owner/operator of Retail Outlet is hoarding liquid petroleum products. For purposes of this Ordinance, the following constitutes prima facie evidence of hoarding: 8.2.e.i The Refusal of Retail Outlet to sell liquid petroleum products shortly before a price increase or in times of tight supply and, in both instances, if the buyer of consumer has the ability to pay in cash for the product; or 8.2.e.ii The undue accumulation of petroleum products in times of tight supply and shortly before a price increase by marketers, retail outlets or consumers shall constitute hoarding. Undue accumulation shall mean quantities beyond the normal inventory levels maintained during the immediately preceding thirty (30) days for marketers or retail outlets, and in the case of consumers. Section 9. Presumption. - It shall be presumed that the Retail Outlet committed under delivery and/or short-selling, when it is found using a dispensing pump that is not approved by the Department of Energy (DOE or has tampered, destroyed, or altered the government seal affixed or attached by the proper authority. Under delivery and/or short-selling of gasoline shall be presumed committed when the seal affixed by the duly authorized representative or service contractors of the oil company in cases contemplated under Section of this Ordinance, has been tampered, destroyed or altered. The absence of an "out-of-order" sign or padlock of the dispensing pump that gone off-calibration shall be deemed an actual use of the pump for the conduct of retailing and shall give rise to the presumption of under-delivery and/or short-selling. A dispensing pump found with a broken or no seal shall constitute prima facie evidence of under delivery and/or short-selling. Section 10. Fines and Sanctions. - (a) All owners, proprietors, or the Chairman of the Board or its President, in the case of a corporation, or any person found violating and/or abetting or aiding in violation of any provision of this Ordinance shall be meted with the following penalty, viz: First Offense : A Fine of Two Thousand Five Hundred (P2,500.00 Pesos or an Imprisonment of One (1) Month or both, at the discretion of the Court. Second Offense : A Fine of Three Thousand Five Hundred (P3,500.00) Pesos or an Imprisonment of Two (2) Months or both, at the discretion of the Court. Third Offense : A Fine of Five Thousand (P5,000.00 Pesos or an Imprisonment of Three (3) Months or both, at the discretion of the Court, plus revocation of its business license to operate. Section 11. No Contest Provision. - Any person, whether natural or juridical, apprehended or cited for violation of this Ordinance, who does not intend to contest the cited violation and is willing to pay the minimum fine imposed prior to the filling of formal charges in court shall be allowed to pay the said fine with the City Treasurer within six (6) hours from the time of apprehension. Failure to pay within the provided time frame will lead to the prosecution of the case. Section 12. Initiation of Criminal Action - Any person may initiate criminal action against those committing any of the prohibited acts defined or provided in this Ordinance. However, the City Government of Pagadian, through the City Treasurer, may motu propio file the case in court. Section 13. Applicability Clause. - All issuances and circulars issued by the Department of Energy as well as all other existing laws, insofar as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, shall be applied suppletory. Section 14. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Ordinance is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the remaining provisions not affected thereby shall continue to be valid and in full force and effect. Section 15. Repealing Clause. - All existing ordinances which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance are hereby repealed and/or modified. Section 16. Effectivity Clause. - This Ordinance shall take effect Fifteen (15) days after its publication for at least three (3) consecutive weeks in a local newspaper of general circulation in the City of Pagadian. ENACTED AND APPROVED by the Sangguniang Panlungsod (14th City Council) during its 57th Regular Session held on 29 November 2023 at the SP Session Hall, 4th Floor City Commercial Center Building, Santiago District, Pagadian City.