Amnesty for electric connections

WE ARE receiving a lot of inquiries about the City Government’s decision to grant amnesty anew to those without building permits to enable them to have electric connections. Of late, we noticed a surge in the attendance on the electric cooperative’s pre-membership seminars on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Am sure it’s because of the amnesty.

Following a directive from Mayor Mauricio Domogan, Beneco’s technical men and the city’s electrical engineer are already burning candles to come up with the guidelines on the implementation of the amnesty ordinance. Allow me to just reiterate some basic facts and rules about the amnesty.

(1) The ordinance only covers Baguio City. Benguet is not included. Not La Trinidad, Itogon or any of the 11 other towns of the province. My sources said La Trinidad will soon follow. That would be a good election move.

(2) The application for amnesty must be filed before the CBAO and not Beneco. It is also CBAO that will explain how to qualify for the amnesty.

(3) The requirements, according to the list provided to me by Engr. Petronillo Ballesca, the city electrical engineer, are the following: tax declaration under the applicant’s name, certificate of non-delinquency of tax and a barangay certification attesting to the fact that the applicant is a resident of the place; that the lot and structure is outside of a forest or military reservation, waterway or road right of way. In addition, the house, building or structure must not be located under high tension wires and not subject to demolition or had been previously demolished. A picture of the finished structure that shows where the panel structure would be installed must also be submitted.

(4) The ordinance is only good for three months from the time it was approved by the mayor. Domogan approved the measure on February 6, 2013. This means the ordinance will only be good until May 7, 2013.

This means that those who are interested in the amnesty must hurry up and go apply at city hall. Ballesca said the CBAO will entertain applications and issue certificates of electrical inspection (CEI) only within the three month period. The CEI will be given provided the applicants have complied with those we mentioned in paragraph 3. This time, the city will no longer require a building permit. For its part, Beneco will only accept the CEIs submitted within the same three month period or until May 7, 2013.

The Consumer Services Department, led by Alejandro de los Santos, and the consumer welfare desk, with lawyer Janeene Colingan as chief, promised to act on the CEIs and applications for power connection not later than 10 working days from submission thereof to the cooperative. The Operations and Maintenance Department, headed by gangnam dancer Engr. Rocky Palllogan, will do the connection within five days.

To ensure that no hocus pocus will attend the issuance of the CEIs, Balllesca assured Beneco that the CEIs to be issued will be coded and numbered for proper identification. Beneco, meanwhile, will not also inspect the structures covered by the CEIs unless it receives a validation from the CBAO. The validation is a communication from the CBAO informing the cooperative of the official list of CEIs it issued, the name of the applicant and the location of the structure. Ballesca said the validation will come on a weekly basis.

The formal guidelines to implement the measure will soon be issued. But those who intend to avail of the amnesty can start trooping to city hall.

In the meantime, my team-mates, Engr. Denver Cabradilla, Engr. Primo Viernes and their crew are ready for the job. Ditto with Atty. Colingan before her date with the stork. Also with De los Santos before his hair folds up.