The Philippine National Police (PNP) has filed 27 legal cases against individuals and businesses for fuel hoarding, profiteering, and other petroleum-related violations, according to a weekend news release.
Since March, police operations have resulted in:
- 7 cases of illegal hoarding
- 1 case of profiteering
- 19 cases involving illegal storage, transport, and trading of petroleum products
These enforcement actions follow President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to maintain market stability amid global fuel supply pressures. The PNP is conducting operations in coordination with the Department of Energy (DOE) and local Price Monitoring Councils. Despite reported supply constraints, only 294 out of 14,527 gas stations nationwide have temporarily closed.
In a separate report, the PNP highlighted a decline in crimes against persons following the rollout of the “Safer Cities” initiative.
Comparing data from March 28–April 5 (pre-implementation) to April 6–April 14 (post-implementation), the following decreases were recorded:
- Murder: down 9.8% (91 to 82 cases)
- Homicide: down 39.3% (28 to 17 cases)
- Physical Injury: down 22.7% (132 to 102 cases)
- Rape: down 22.9% (96 to 74 cases)
The PNP said these results reflect the impact of intensified monitoring and enforcement measures under the initiative.