Yanson feud – Causings went to court-6

By Modesto P. Sa-onoy

Last Friday I mentioned the cutting off by personnel of Ceneco of the electricity supply to the apartment occupied by the Cuasing couple and their year old baby. In the complaint he filed, the lawyers described the act as “surreptitious”, not only because they were sneaky but also because they did not send a notice of disconnection to the occupants of the apartment as Ceneco ought to do in accordance with the governing laws and rules.

On the other hand, Ceneco could not have sent that notice because Nico was updated in his accounts with the cooperative.  Thus the word “surreptitious” is probably a mild term. The appropriate description of Ceneco’s action is “treacherous” as it is illegal and the cooperative deserves to be sued. The electrical connection to the apartment was legal, bills were paid on time and the Causings have no accountability with Ceneco.

I recall an advice to consumers of electricity in Massachusetts. It says “electric, gas, and private water companies cannot shut off your service if you cannot afford to pay your bill and if there is an infant under one year old living in your house. The only reason your service can be shut off is for failure to pay for service at your current address.”

This protection is almost universal, especially for electric cooperatives that are organized basically for service and not for profit thus are tax exempt. They should be more than considerate because they have, as cooperatives, a social responsibility.

But let us not go far because in the Philippines, the users of water and electricity are similarly protected by laws. For the protection of electricity consumers, we have RA 7832 and RA 9138 and the Magna Carta for Residential Electricity consumers issued by the Electricity Regulatory Commission. These laws and rules protect us from arbitrary and “surreptitious” actions by the electricity provider, in the present case by Ceneco.

It is best for the protection of all electricity consumers that we quote the law and the rules because despite the millions spent by these cooperatives for publicity and propaganda, they have refrained, intentionally I believe, to not inform their consumers of their rights thus they develop an ignorant and subservient clientele.

Article 18 of the Magna Carta clearly says, “No consumer shall be deprived of electric service without due process of law. Subject to the foregoing paragraph, disconnection of electric service shall only be made under the following circumstances:

“…Upon lawful orders of government agencies and/or the courts; (d) When the public safety so requires; (e) Request of the registered customers based on justifiable reasons; or (f) Allowing other end-users.

“When the owner/occupant of the house or establishment concerned or someone acting in his behalf shall have been caught in flagrante delicto doing any of the acts enumerated in Section 6 of RA 7832, the distribution utility concerned shall have the authority and right to disconnect immediately his electric service after serving the written notice or warning to the effect.”

These provisions are sufficient for our present purpose. It is clear that even if it is the fault of the electricity user, the cooperative must give due notice for disconnection. It cannot simply sneak in and shut off the supply as Ceneco did to the apartment occupied by the Causings.

Even allowing they believe the claim of whoever said they represent Olivia Yanson as the owner who wanted to cut off the power supply, Ceneco cannot just crash into the area and cut off the electricity to the apartment without informing the Causings of their intention.

Were they aware that an infant or maybe an elderly or sick person lived there and placed their lives or health at stake? They did not bother to ask. I believe that the Ceneco personnel know the rules about disconnections because they are the experts of the cooperative when it concerns disconnections.

 

Thus rightfully the Causing complaint claims that the action of Ceneco placed their baby in grave physical danger. The infant needed air conditioning, I suppose considering the way the apartment units in posh subdivision are constructed. They are built with electrical power in mind for lighting and comfort. Moreover, Ceneco personnel detached their power supply during the hot days.

 

Continued tomorrow.