Consumer advocate Raul T. Concepcion on Monday said the Department of Trade and Industry must investigate the alleged shortage of supply of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the country.

Concepcion said the DTI must step in following confusing reports on the actual state of supply and the increase in the price of LPG where available,

"Adequate supply of LPG is a basic consumer concern especially among our C,D,E economic classes. The DTI, by authority of RA 7394 or the Consumer Act must step in the determine whether there is in fact a shortage of LPG and why," said Concepcion, chairman of the Consumer and Oil Price Watch (COPW).

He said that in the spirit of transparency and public welfare, COPW is asking that the total capacity of LPG of the various suppliers, Petron, Shell, Liquigaz, Total, Petronas, Pryce Gas be made public.

Concepcion said this public disclosure must include the value and volume of their inventories. "The government agencies concerned must act decisively to dispel fears of supply, and heaven forbid, price manipulations," Concepcion said.

Since December and into the new year, consumers, particularly, the housewives, have been complaining about the scarcity of LPG. While the major suppliers of LPG, particularly Petron, have acknowledged the increased consumption of LPG especially during the holiday season, they have nonetheless been assuring the public of adequate supply.

The LPG Marketers Association through its president Arnel Ty have admitted that retailers have started to increase prices due to the "lack of supply."

Anakpawis Rep. Rafael V. Mariano, meanwhile, urged the House Committee on Energy to conduct its own investigation on the LPG shortage. He said government could regulate LPG prices by setting price caps to prevent unscrupulous businessmen from hoarding their LPG products.

Concepcion said recent LPG price rollbacks of P1 per kilogram is not enough. He said that based on his computations which show that price movements in the world market show that the recent rollback totaling P1 "is P3 short of our expectations."

He added that weekly rollbacks of P2 every week as of January 17 could have been implemented.

Concepcion said oil companies have to explain why they did not enter into a forward contract for delivery in February when the NYMEX price dropped to $35.25 on December 24 and again on January 15 when the price dropped to $35.40 with February contract expiring on January 20.

"We are again requesting the DOE to immediately release to the public, in the interest of transparency, the long overdue inventory of the oil companies to include volume and existing stocks on hand plus the incoming shipments as of January 16," Concepcion added.