Iloilo City Council mulls measure vs power saboteurs

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

 

The Iloilo Council is eyeing an ordinance that will target pilferers and electric saboteurs to ensure continuous and uninterrupted transmission and distribution of electricity.

This is the plan by Councilor Romel Duron, chairman of the committee on public utilities, who underscored that the local government should now step in and support all measures that would ensure reliable electricity supply and end the suffering of Ilonggo consumers.

“We know for a fact that power interruptions and overloads caused by pilferers and saboteurs is not only a sabotage against the power distributor but is a direct affront against the legitimate consumers who are actually the ones paying for the stolen electricity,” Duron pointed out.

“We have to protect the power consumers and we must put an end to our people’s suffering which is why an ordinance to this effect is a must.”

A lawyer by profession, Duron said that although there is an existing Anti-Pilferage Law which seeks to curb the illegal use of electricity and theft of electric power transmission lines and materials, a local ordinance would give more teeth to address the nagging problem of electric pilferage and sabotage.

The proposed ordinance will further strengthen not only the Anti- Pilferage Law but also the new law which was approved by President Duterte in August 2019.

The President signed into law Republic Act 11361 or the Anti-Obstruction of Power Lines Act which prohibits the planting of tall-growing plants, the construction of hazardous improvements, and the conduct of any hazardous activities within the power line corridor.

The new law also outlines the duties and responsibilities of power line owners and operators in the prevention and removal of disturbances or obstructions to the power lines, whether located on public or private property.

It also likewise authorized power line owners and operators to seek the assistance of local government officials, Philippine National Police, and Armed Forces of the Philippines in the discharge of their duties.

“There are however conducts that these national laws don’t cover and to pass a local ordinance in sync with these existing laws will bolster our campaign to get rid of pilferers and saboteurs in our midst. That is the spirit of the ordinance that we are planning to pass very soon,” he said.

“We can perhaps include stiffer penalties that are appropriate to the offenses that are now a commonplace such as unauthorized climbing on electrical post. We really have to establish protocols in partnership with barangays, the police and the utility distributor so we can eliminate instances of sabotage which in the end we will all benefit,” he said.

On June 30, 2020, the City Council’s committee on public utilities conducted a fact-finding investigation on the various trip-offs, unscheduled interruptions, and abnormalities that have been plaguing the city.

In its report to the committee, MORE Power zeroed in on the dilapidated equipment of PECO, the former power distributer, as the major cause of the unscheduled power interruption and the so-called “unusual” occurrences which were traced by its technical team as “man-made” faults.

MORE Power, however, assured that it is conducting a comprehensive repair, maintenance, and upgrade to the said facilities as well as on the existing substations to prevent breakdowns which could lead to massive and prolonged brownouts.

MORE Power recently partnered with MIESCOR Engineering Company in facilitating the thermal scanning of the distribution network all over the city and was able to identify at least 900 hotspots indicating overloaded distribution transformers.

The Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers of the Philippines (IIEE) Iloilo Chapter has lauded MORE Power’s campaign saying it is moving in the right direction.

Engr. Allan Biton, IIEE Iloilo Chapter president, who was among the resource persons during the fact-finding investigation, told the City Council that MORE Power is competent enough and is treading in the right direction.

MORE Power said that there are almost 30,000 jumpers all over Iloilo City. With the start of its campaign, it reported that it was able to apprehended four persons and disconnected hundreds of illegal connections since they took over the distribution utility four months ago.