Sec.

Perez v LPG Refillers

Facts: Batas Pambansa Blg. 33, as amended, penalizes illegal trading, hoarding, overpricing, adulteration,
underdelivery, and underfilling of petroleum products, as well as possession for trade of adulterated
petroleum products and of underfilled liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder. The said law sets the
monetary penalty for violators to a minimum of P 20,000 and a maximum of P 50,000. Respondent LPG
Refillers Association of the Philippines asked the DOE to set aside the Circular for being contrary to law
but to no avail, hence they filed an action before the RTC to nullify the circular.

Issue: Whether or not the circular is valid

Held: For an administrative regulation, to have the force of penal law, the following must concur:

1.) the violation of the administrative regulation must be made a crime by the delegating statute itself;
and

2.) the penalty for such violation must be provided by the statute itself.

As to the first requirement, BP Blg 33 only states merely lists the various modes by which the said
criminal acts may be perpetrated, namely: no price display board, no weighing scale, no tare weight or
incorrect tare weight markings, no authorized LPG seal, no trade name, unbranded LPG cylinders, no
serial number, no distinguishing color, no embossed identifying markings on cylinder, underfilling LPG
cylinders, tampering LPG cylinders, and unauthorized decanting of LPG cylinders.The acts and omissions
stated in the circular are well within the modes contemplated by the law and serve the purpose of
curbing pernicious practices of LPG dealers.

As for the second requirement, the statute provides a minimum and maximum amount as penalties. The
maximum pecuniary penalty for retail outlets is P20,000, an amount within the range allowed by law.
While the circular is silent as to the max penalty for refillers, marketers, and dealers, such does not
amount to violation of the statutory maximum limit.

The mere fact that the Circular provides penalties on a per cylinder basis does not in itself run counter to
the law since all that B.P. Blg. 33 prescribes are the minimum and the maximum limits of penalties.
Nothing in the Circular contravenes the law.

Noteworthy, the enabling laws on which the Circular is based were specifically intended to provide the
DOE with increased administrative and penal measures with which to effectively curtail rampant
adulteration and shortselling, as well as other acts involving petroleum products, which are inimical to
public interest. To nullify the Circular in this case would be to render inutile government efforts to
protect the general consuming public against the nefarious practices of some unscrupulous LPG traders.