MORE Power continues push vs power pilferers

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

Iloilo City’s power provider, MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power), said it is going well and hard against power pilferers over illegal connections, having already filed 206 cases with prosecutors as of yesterday.

MORE Power’s legal counsel, Atty. Allana Mae Babayen-on, told Daily Guardian on Thursday that they have filed up to 40 cases for violation of Republic Act No. 7832 (Anti-Pilferage of Electricity and Theft of Electric Transmission Lines/Materials Act of 1994) in January 2023 alone.

But Babayen-on said that despite the cases, they are open to compromise, with 64 already opting to settle their dues, which led to the withdrawal of the cases.

She emphasized to Daily Guardian on Air on Friday that the 206 cases were just part of the more than 1,000 cases they are attending to.

“[Lawyers] can just imagine the 206 [cases], because when you file a case with the prosecutor, you have to follow an entire process, [as to] the many number of copies per filing, preliminary investigation, issuance of a warrant by the court, and then ongoing trial. So, that is a lot of work,” Babayen-on explained.

“What is sad is that the 206 that we have filed, that is just a portion of the bulk because the [cases] stored in the Legal Office [is around] 1,500 which come from those apprehended,” she added.

The legal process starts with the Systems Loss Reduction Program’s apprehension of offenders, then MORE Power’s legal office sends them letters to demand payment and even encourages them to get their own meters.

Out of the more than 1,500 who have been tagged by MORE Power and have received demand letters, around 800 have fully paid.

“On our part, aside from the full payment, we want them to apply for their own meter, so we check on them and ask for their application, so we can make sure that even if we didn’t pursue a case, they wouldn’t go back to pilferage,” Babayen-on said.

The lawyer lamented that they do not wish to file the cases in court at the first instance and would rather push for the alleged pilferers to settle instead of going through litigation.

“The sad part is that, they would want to settle, [but] we have already filed the case in court, we have spent [money] on our external lawyers, and [offenders] would have warrants issued against them. It’s not something that we find pleasure in,” she said.

“When we hear someone arrested, detained, visited by their families, and looking for [money] for their bail, it’s not something that we want to do but really the last-ditch effort,” she added.

Assistant Vice President for Customer Care Maria Cecilia Pe touted their Iloilo Konek (IKonek) program, in partnership with the Iloilo City and barangay governments.

MORE Power has been active in going after power pilferers since taking over the city’s distribution lines in February 2020, with previous activities already launched to encourage going after power theft and electrifying all properties in the city.