DILG ‘disturbed’ by local officials accused of power pilferage

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

 

Very disturbing!

This is how Atty. Cedric Jaranilla, legal officer of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in Western Visayas, labeled the involvement of some local officials of Iloilo City in alleged power pilferage or stealing of electricity.

To note, several barangay captains and council members (kagawads) and even a city councilor were allegedly caught stealing electricity from the distribution lines operated by MORE Electric and Power Corp.

Jaranilla aired his sentiment in an interview with Aksyon Radyo-Iloilo as he confirmed that the DILG Regional Office has received a list of local officials in the city who were involved in the illegal tapping of electricity, which is a violation of the Anti-Pilferage Act.

“Yes, we already received a copy of the list given by MORE Power and we are disturbed by the numerous cases involving our local officials here so we referred it to the Central Office for proper action,” he said.

Jaranilla did not identify the personalities in the list, but Daily Guardian learned that 30 officials were in the list – 10 punong barangays, 19 barangay kagawads, and a city councilor.

Reports indicated that MORE Power submitted the list to DILG-Iloilo City Director Oscar Lim, who also sent a copy to their regional office.

Jaranilla said most of the persons in the list are already facing criminal cases before the Regional Trial Court with MORE Power as complainant.

When asked if DILG will pursue administrative cases against the local officials, Jaranilla said they are still awaiting orders from their Central Office.

In February 2021, MORE Power president and chief operating officer Roel Castro noted that around P30 million was lost monthly to power theft, although the figure has gone down because of active operations against alleged power pilferers.

Castro said that since February, which marked MORE Power’s one year of operation, 120 kilometers of wires were seized from alleged “jumpers” since the firm embarked on a door-to-door crackdown on electricity thieves.

The campaign dubbed “Oplan Valeria” initially crushed “organized” pilferers in the city, especially those in populated barangays.

The perpetrators allegedly act as “mini-power utilities” who profit by providing illegal connections to some households.

As the crackdown intensified, MORE Power claimed to have caught City Councilor Jojo Javellana illegally tapping to the distribution line for the power supply of the water-refilling station that he and his wife, Loboc Barangay Captain Mary Tracy Javellana, operated.

The Javellanas denied the accusation claiming they were using a sub-meter for their business.

Another punong barangay and kagawad in Jaro identified as Rex Jalbuena and Elmer Jareño, respectively, were also caught this year using jumpers and are now facing a case for violation of Republic Act No. 7832 (Anti-Pilferage of Electricity and Theft of Electric Transmission Lines/Materials Act of 1994).

Punong Barangay Marites Sumpio of Alalasan in Lapuz district hogged the headlines when she was caught by the apprehension team of MORE Power with an illegal electrical connection in March 2021.

While the village chief did have an electric meter in her house, MORE Power wondered why the average monthly consumption of Sumpio’s household was only 30 kilowatt-hours (kWh), when her two-story house has many electric appliances, including four air-condition units.

It turned out that an alleged illegal line hidden inside PVC pipes that was directly connected to MORE’s secondary line from Sumpio’s residence is powering up her household, including that of her mother and a sibling.

Lately, Barangay Captain Rene Haresco Firmeza of Caingin, Lapaz was also apprehended by operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) for alleged power pilferage which he eventually admitted during an interview with the media.

Firmez said the alleged illegal connection was for his own consumption, not for profit.

In an earlier interview, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas said he will request barangay officials “to help put an end to these illegal connections.”

“This unlawful practice is one of the causes why cost of electricity is high because we legitimate consumers eventually pay for stolen electricity.”

Consumers pay for the stolen power via the so-called systems loss charge.

The mayor said he was more than satisfied with MORE Power as the new distribution utility in the city even emphasizing that “what they are doing is far beyond my expectations.”

Treñas said he is more than happy to see MORE Power doing a yeoman’s job in solving the power supply problems of the city.