By Francis Allan L. Angelo
In its bid to put an end to illegal power connections or “jumpers” that have infested the metro, Iloilo City’s new power distributor MORE Electric and Power Co. (MORE Power) launched a massive crackdown on power thieves on Monday.
Hundreds of households in Arevalo, Iloilo City were the first targets of the crackdown dubbed Oplan Valeria.
The power distributor initiated “Project Valeria” to chase after illegal power connections that cause system losses, overloaded power lines, and fires.
In a statement, MORE Power said the door-to-door crackdown by its apprehension team resulted in the “arrest of an unprecedented number of power thieves in just a day of operation.”
According to Ariel Castañeda project head of MORE Power’s apprehension team, Project Valeria started its crackdown against power pileferers on the coastal barangays in the metro particularly in Brgy. Sto. Niño Sur, Calumpang, and Calaparan.
“We launched today our Operation Valeria. Isa ka massive campaign on pilferage and illegal connections sa mga barangays. For now, ara kita sa coastal areas and depende sa recommendation sang technical team naton if diin ta ischedule ang aton next operations,” he said in a press conference on Monday.
Castañeda, who used to head the city’s Local Economic and Enterprise Office (LEEO), said there was no resistance from the residence as the barangay captains also provided support to MORE Power.
“Wala resistance, we are closely coordinating with brgy captains. The barangay officials also provided assistance sa mga security nga mapabilin,” he said.
Castañeda said it is high time to address the problem of power pilferage.
“The harsh reality is that because of these jumpers a lot of legitimate consumers are being affected one way or another due to the prevailing power theft that has been going on in almost every nook and corner of the city of Iloilo and it’s now high time to stop this. This morning alone, our team found out hundreds of jumpers who are stealing electricity in the district of Arevalo.”
Atty. Allana Mae Babayen-on, legal officer of MORE Power under the office of its president, added that they deployed security personnel on strategic areas to ensure that illegal connections will no longer be tolerated.
“Ang gakatabo after ta magoperate and mahalin kita, ang gakatabo ga-illegaly connect sila balik that is why postingan ta sang security that is 24/7. If they try to illegally connect again, that’s the time na we apprehend,” Babayen-on said.
Republic Act 7832 (Anti-Pilferage Law) punishes illegal connections with imprisonment of up to 12 years and/or a fine of up to P20,000.
Babayen-on said the company already sued six violators of RA 7382 and more cases will be filed with the intensified campaign under “Oplan Valeria.”
“In fact, there will be two more scheduled arraignments tomorrow (July 28) and some more the following week. The ball is rolling and there will be no let-up in our campaign to rid the city with power thefts,” Babayen-on said.
But Babayen-on said they will consider cases of illegal connections and give them leeway on temporary power supply if they satisfy the two considerations.
One consideration is if one of the permanent occupants is sick and dependent on life support that requires electricity, according to Babayen-on.
Another consideration is if there is the funeral wake of a deceased permanent resident of the premises.
“We are anticipating nga kon ma utdan kuryente ang mga tawo there are some nga maayo gid and we have considered two reasons, humanitarian reasons. We have a team to assess the connected load and they would sign a compromise agreement,” she said.
According to Castañeda, they have discovered initially a hundred illegal power connections which may have affected thousands of households.
MORE Power estimates that there are approximately 30,000 illegal connections in Iloilo City, or around 28 percent of the total connections.
If not totally eliminated, Castañeda warned that illegal connections may not only put burden on legitimate consumers but also endanger the lives of city residents.
“Una, ma-endanger ang householdsa sa sunog, low voltage . As far as the legal consumers, sila mabear sang systems loss and other charges,” he said.
As illegal connections have been an age-old practice in the city, the power distributor committed to correct this particular culture of Ilonggos.
“Ang aton presidente and the mayor himself supported this cause because nakita naton nga this particular practice if indi naton macorrect will not only damage the reputation of the community and the Ilonggos but will put our people at risk and in danger,” Castañeda said.
Castañeda said Project Valeria will continue in the coming days and weeks depending on the recommendation of MORE Power’s technical team.
“Oplan Valeria” is conducted by 10 apprehension teams accompanied by hundreds of security personnel.
Babayen-on said the security personnel, in partnership with the police force, will be in charge of securing the area where jumpers had been identified.
“Our security personnel will be there 24/7 to ensure that identified violators can no longer find a way to reconnect their jumpers. This is not going to be a short-term campaign, but it is going to be a long haul,” she stressed.
Castañeda assured that “with the intensified campaign, legitimate consumers are going to experience lesser brownouts, a peaceful community, and since systems loss shall be radically decreased with jumpers already out, there will be a significant decrease in their future billings.”
This, he said, will result in stable supply of power in the community and reduce sporadic fluctuations or outages. (With a report from ERS)
