Power pilferage causes fire

By Herbert Vego

BEWARE of the fires of March!

We are only a few days away from the month of March, which has been commemorated yearly as the “Fire Prevention Month” since 1967 in accordance with Presidential Proclamation No. 115-A signed by the late former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in November 1966.

The proclamation was intended to propagate “fire safety consciousness.”

Ironically, most fires happen in March.  To quote a report from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), it officially recorded 811 fires in March 2022 alone.

The view from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) is that the temperature and humidity start to reach higher levels in March, with the hot, dry weather causing a rise in reported fire cases around the country.

Iloilo City did not have to wait for March this year to suffer one of its biggest fires so far. On January 28 this year, 300 houses in the adjoining barangays of West Habog-Habog and San Juan burned down. To quote Chief Inspector Vencie Jojo Aldeguer of the city’s BFP, the cause of fire was “electrical in nature”.

It would be a misnomer, however, to interpret it as “faulty electrical wiring” emanating from the distribution utility – MORE Electric and Power Corp. – because the latter is always required to comply with the provisions of the Codes and Standards. And so, for clarification, this writer talked to two MORE Power officials, namely Engr. Edwin Montemayor, Vice President for Network Operations; and Ma. Cecilia “Maricel” Pe, Asst. Vice President for Customer Care.

“We lost millions of pesos in that fire,” Montemayor said, no doubt referring to the burned electrical installations the company had spent money for.

There was a night, he recalled, when he personally joined his team of field workers to inspect the power lines in a barangay. He had been alarmed by reports about dishonest power consumers installing jumpers to illegally tap electricity.

“We were stoned by residents,” he admitted, “despite the presence of a police officer.”

If “bantay salakay” could happen in their presence, why not when nobody is watching?

Both the distribution utility and its customers stand to lose from the system’s loss due to pilferage.  But it’s the former that shoulders the system’s loss in excess of 5.5% allowed by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

Of course, it’s possible to use candle light at night, but this could be a riskier alternative.

“We found out that of the 300 homes razed by fire at West Habog-Habog and San Juan,” Miss Pe said, “only 114 were legally connected”

It could only mean that most of them were tapping from neighbors with electric meters or directly stealing power from secondary lines with the use of devices or jumpers.

“Using extension cords to connect to a neighbor with a meter,” Pe said, “is prone to overloading, which could overheat the wires and cause fire. “

Also, when a wire brushes against a tree branch or any other moving object, it could short-circuit and catch fire.

Asked why the cheaters could not be caught, she asked back jokingly, “If you were in their shoes, padakop ka bala?”

Anyway, those caught would be charged in court, jailed or penalized. If uncaught, they run the risk of harming themselves in case of fire.

“It’s for their own safety,” she stressed, “that we have launched the MORE Konek program which invites pilferers to apply for legal connections at reasonable cost.  They need first of all to apply for low-load capacity, for which they need to pay only P256, which is half the previous amount, to the City Engineer’s Office and an initial deposit of P2,500 to MORE Power, payable on installment. Within a week of completing the requirements, they would be provided with an electric meter.”

No less than MORE Power President Roel Z. Castro, she said, is at the forefront of efforts to lure barangay leaders into ventilating the problems of residents where electricity is insufficient. A case in point is Barangay Ticud where “low voltage” used to be a big problem despite its low population.

“As requested by the barangay captain,” Pe enthused, “we solved the problem by spending a huge amount of money for more poles, primary lines and transformers.”

No less than Mayor Jerry P. Treñas would agree with us: To keep your homes standing, thou shalt not steal electricity.