The state-of-the-art facility is a manifestation of the company’s long-term commitment to providing reliable, safe, and sustainable LPG supply in one of the country’s fastest-growing regions.
LEGANES, ILOILO — Isla Group today formally inaugurated its newest LPG facility in Barangay Bigke, Leganes, Iloilo. This event marks a significant infrastructure milestone that bolsters the country’s energy supply chain and signals sustained confidence in the growth of the Visayas-Panay region.
The inauguration, attended by Tomoaki Asai, CEO of Isla Petroleum & Gas Corporation; Jose Ricardo Delgado, President and CEO of Citadel Holdings; Department of Energy Secretary Sharon Garin; Iloilo Provincial Administrator Dr. Raul Banias; Congresswoman Kathrynn Joyce Gorriceta; and Mayor Junjun Jaen of Leganes, Iloilo, signals the culmination of a strategic investment aimed at improving LPG supply reliability across Panay Island while enhancing logistics for the broader Southern Islands.
Investing in a Developing Region
Panay Island has emerged as one of the most dynamic economic corridors in the Visayas. The island is strategically located within the reach of the highly urbanized city Iloilo and the tourism haven Boracay Island. This positions Panay Island as a foundational sweet spot that’s ripe with potential and growth.
Iloilo’s fast-paced urban development and Boracay’s strong tourism allure have presented certain challenges when it comes to the supply of reliable energy, particularly LPG. Not to mention other neighboring hotspots such as the Seafood Capital of the Philippines, Roxas City, and Guimaras Island in Iloilo, world-renowned for its mangoes.
The Leganes Plant is strategically positioned to better support Panay’s development moving forward. Built as a successor to the company’s Lapuz facility, the new plant provides significantly expanded capacity and operational capabilities. Critically, its coastal position and deep-water jetty also allow it to serve as a business continuity point for the entire Visayas region. This means that Leganes can sustain LPG production and make sure households, businesses, and industries across the island chain are continuously supported regardless of supply challenges.
Building with Scalability in Mind
The Leganes Plant is equipped with a deep-water jetty, enough for coaster-sized ships that move LPG across the archipelago. A submarine pipeline connects the jetty to the onshore facility, enabling the safe and efficient transfer of product from marine tankers to shore tanks. Once onshore, storage capacity is sufficient to support approximately 125,000 households, with provision for additional tanks as demand grows. This is to ensure that, as the inevitable rise in demand comes, the necessary infrastructure will be in place to meet it.
The plant also features a loading gantry and weighbridge for efficient bulk supply distribution, along with a highly automated carousel filling system with high-capacity pumps for efficient and accurate cylinder filling. Together, the jetty and expanded tank farm allow Isla Group’s supply team to optimize freight costs within the Visayas-Mindanao corridor. This logistical advantage will ultimately trickle down to benefit the consumers.
Safety as a Priority and Not Just a Feature
Beyond raw capacity, the Leganes Plant incorporates technology and safety systems that reflect current best practice in LPG operations, including a state-of-the-art long-range CCTV network responsible for large-scale facility-wide surveillance that features an audio warning mechanism covering the entire terminal, including the jetty. An emergency shutdown system and firefighting facilities further enforce the project’s safety mechanisms. All of these features showcase the plant’s commitment to meeting stringent safety and emergency response standards.
A Marriage of International Excellence and Local Know-How
The Leganes facility is the latest in a series of major investments by Isla Group, which is a joint venture between the Citadel Group—led by the Delgado family—and Itochu Corporation of Japan, one of the world’s foremost energy and trading conglomerates. The partnership is a fortuitous one that pairs international-standard operational excellence and local knowledge and familiarity.
Earlier this year, Isla Group launched the premiere Import Terminal Facility in Batangas—a 6-hectare complex capable enough to serve over two million Filipino households. The Leganes Plant extends that same philosophy of long-horizon investment into the heart of the Visayas.
Seven Decades of Trust
The Solane brand, a renowned fixture in Filipino kitchens and businesses for decades, is among the many brands that the Leganes plant will serve. What began as Shellane has grown into a nationwide network serving a multitude of commercial and industrial clients. Today, Solane serves countless Filipino families across the archipelago.
More notably, the facility is designed with flexibility and scalability in mind. While the plant primarily serves the Solane brand, the plant’s infrastructure is designed to accommodate additional brands and product lines down the line. This positions Isla Leganes as a long-term platform of growth and development for the region.
Isla Group’s competitive edge rests on four pillars: a strong culture of health, safety, security, and environment (HSSE); proven supply reliability backed by a fleet of modern trucks; technical expertise as a recognized leader in LPG system solutions; and product superiority through quality LPG and customized product mixes for diverse customer needs.
Investing in Leganes, Investing in People
Beyond supply chain economics, the Leganes Plant represents a vote of confidence in the municipality itself. Isla Group has expressed its intention to continue providing opportunities to the local community through employment, through the economic activity the plant generates, and through the assurance that a world-class facility now calls Leganes home. More than that, the presence of the LPG plant also grants the community exposure to world-class technical concepts and skills development.
About Isla Group
Isla Group is a joint venture between Citadel Pacific (the Delgado family) and Itochu Corporation of Japan. The company operates the Solane LPG brand, one of the Philippines’ most trusted names in household and commercial energy. With 11 refilling and storage facilities, a recently launched import terminal in Batangas, and a nationwide distribution network, Isla Group is committed to maintaining the quality, safety, and efficiency of LPG operations across the archipelago. Citadel Pacific continues to invest in energy, telecommunications, and logistics in the Philippines and overseas.
