‘JUMPER MO, NOCHE BUENA KO’: Rewards program for ‘jumper tipsters’ launched

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

 

Iloilo City’s power provider MORE Electric and Power Corp launched on Saturday a rewards mechanism to encourage residents to report illegal connections in exchange of cash reward in time for the Christmas season.

Since taking over the city’s electricity service in March of this year, MORE Power has been tough on cracking down on illegal power connections through cables called “jumpers”.

MORE power president and COO Roel Castro said jumper connections are present in up to 90 percent of the city’s barangays.

Castro explained in a press conference that persons behind jumper connections profit from households that lack legal connections.

He said the masterminds charge the household P15 to P20 per kilowatt hour (kWh), which is more than 50 percent of their effective rate of P9.61 per kWh.

The illegal connections also burden legitimate consumers via the Systems Loss charge which appears on their billing statements.

Consumers of private distribution utilities like MORE Power shoulder 6.5 percent of the systems loss while the rest is subsidized by MORE Power.

The systems loss charges is spread among the legitimate consumers of MORE Power.

He said that MORE Power wants to use its funds in rehabilitating old facilities or building new ones for the benefit of the legal consumers, rather than subsidize part of the systems loss charges, hence their aggressive “drive” to crack down on illegal connections.

“Why should MORE Power and consumers be absorbing systems losses due to pilferage? Why not use the money for facilities and investments. Let’s say in one month, MORE Power would have to absorb P5 million in pilferage. That P5 million, instead of subsidizing illegal connections, I’d rather put it to new transformers, new wires, and new posts. These are new facilities that should benefit the consuming public,” Castro said.

He said that the promo “Jumper Mo, Noche Buena Ko!” was only one of their drives in weeding out perpetrators.

Persons who will reporting illegal connections and the perpetrators to MORE Power will receive a cash reward of P3,000 per jumper connection.

The incentive program runs until Dec. 24, 2020.

Information can be relayed by texting or calling 0917-5867377 (0917-JUMPERS) or sending a messaging the MORE JUMPERS account on Facebook Messenger.

MORE Power will then inspect to validate the information submitted, and immediately give the reward to the informants if the report is true.

Castro clarified that when a certain property with an illegal connection had already been reported multiple times, they will be giving the reward to the person who had reported it first.

Prior to the launch of the rewards program, the power company had already opened itself to reports from residents in August.

Castro said that the program’s other purpose was to help relieve residents of the economic burden brought about by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

“MORE Power is serious, we’ve always been serious about our problem here in the city which is the prolific and really massive illegal jumpers. This is one of the drives that we’re doing together with the city to clean the city of illegal jumpers. From the very start, we have said in MORE Power that we cannot do this alone. We ourselves cannot do this alone with the massiveness of illegal jumpers,” said Castro.

Castro also expressed confidence in the new promo, adding further that the identities of those who divulge information to them will be kept confidential.

“This time, we are reaching out to the public, that hopefully, with this program, we will get more reports, more information, and you are assured that the confidentiality, your confidentiality, will always be protected,” he assured.

MORE Power’s legal counsel Hector Teodosio explained that perpetrators may still discover whoever reported them, but they will provide help to informants should there be any retaliation.

Teodosio said that they will ask assistance from local police for protection of informants, and also provide their own assistance for informants.

“The informant will not have criminal liability or any liability when he reports that. If the suspect plans to take revenge, MORE Electric will ask for help from the police, and the informant will be given protection because that is the principal function of law enforcement agencies, to give protection to the citizens. MORE Electric will also help them in case cases will be filed against them or they are intimidated,” Teodosio added.

The use of jumpers for theft of electrical connections may be punished by Republic Act No. 7832 or the Anti-Electricity and Electric Transmission Lines/Materials Pilferage Act of 1994.

Castro said that the success of this rewards program may encourage them to come up with more rewards promos in the future.

“If this becomes successful, we may continue this into the next year. We may have ‘Jumper Mo, Valentines Ko’ or even ‘Jumper Mo, Dinagyang Ko’,” Castro said.