EXCEPT MANGALDAN

LINGAYEN—Local government units (LGUs) in the province, except for Mangaldan, have been remiss in their mandate to regularly calibrate the pumps of gasoline stations in their respective areas, according to an official of the Department of Energy (DOE).

Director Zenaida Monsada of the DOE’s oil industry management bureau said municipal and city administrations in Pangasinan are mandated by the Local Government Code to regularly calibrate and seal the pumps of gasoline stations to protect consumers.

Only Mangaldan is carrying out this duty, for which it charges stations P500 per pump calibrated as specified in the municipality’s local revenue code.

Most of the LGUs in Pangasinan admitted that their respective revenue codes do not specify the collection of calibration fees.

The calibration process requires an LGU to have a calibration bucket, which can be obtained from a duly licensed company recognized by DOE and a leaded seal normally being placed on weight and measures that can be placed in the pumps after calibration.

There must also be an official sticker pasted on the gasoline pump indicating that it been calibrated.

REVENUE SOURCE

Monsada said calibration fees could be a source of revenue for LGUs as there are usually several gasoline stations in their respective localities which have as much as six to eight pumps each that must be calibrated.

At the same time, Monsada reiterated her previous call to LGUs to stop the illegal operation of roadside stores selling gasoline and diesel by the bottle.

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