LUCENA CITY, Philippines—Petron gasoline stations here resumed their operations on Monday morning after closing shop on Sunday.

Station attendants denied that they stopped selling petroleum products for a day in protest of the oil price cap being imposed by the government.

“We just ran out of XCS (premium) gasoline and diesel that’s why the owner decided to temporarily close the station,” said a gas attendant in a Petron branch on Quezon Avenue.

He said their supplies were replenished with the arrival of the tanker.

A gas attendant in another Petron branch on Maharlika Highway in the village of Iyam also cited the lack of gasoline as the reason behind their closure on Sunday.

The manager of the station refused to talk to media.

However, a jeepney driver plying the route told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that in the past, gasoline stations continued to remain open even if some of their products had run out.

“Their closure yesterday (Sunday) was the first incident. They should have remained open and sold their available stocks,” said Alex De los Santos.

On Sunday, at least five Petron stations here stopped their operations and fenced off the premises of the service station with ropes.

The closure caught many private and public motorists by surprise. Traffic was light on city streets as motorists opted to save gasoline.