Friday, July 06, 2007 Electricity cable thieves to blame for Bicol outages: power firm
BICOL region stands to suffer more brownouts if the pilferage of cable and towers of the National Transmission Corporation (Transco) will not be stopped.
Transco president Arthur Aguilar issued the warning after two of its transmission lines were stolen recently. "Our transmission lines are being stolen by lawless elements as quickly as we can replace them. The typhoon season is fast approaching and unless these criminal acts are stopped, the Bicol region will suffer again and again," Aguilar said.
"Pilferers are becoming bolder, targeting even an energized line. They disregard the possibility that they could get electrocuted or get seriously injured while pilfering energized transmission lines," Aguilar added.
He said in Tiwi, Albay alone, about 9.6 kilometers of transmission lines were stolen while in the towns of Malinao and Ligao, a total of 7.3 kilometers were lost to thieves.
When a series of typhoons lashed the region last year, it toppled several towers and poles of Transco. Transco personnel worked continuously to repair or replace the toppled steel towers, wooden poles and cables.
However, Aguilar said repair and restoration efforts were hampered by the unabated theft of transmission cables and steel tower parts.
He cited the case of the 230-kilovolt Naga-Tiwi transmission line that was restored and energized by Transco after the series of typhoons last year.
When the line tripped at 9:15 a.m. last June 28, Transco's line crews who were dispatched to restore the line in the vicinity of Buhi, Camarines Sur were stunned to see that the cables at Towers 152 to 154 spanning almost one kilometer had been stolen.
The line tripping isolated the Tiwi Geothermal Power Plant from the Luzon grid and caused a power interruption in the towns of Tiwi, Malinao, Tabaco, Sto. Domingo, Malilipot and Bacacay.
Aguilar suspects that heavily armed syndicates are behind the criminal acts.
Power cables fetch a good price if sold to scrap metal buyers because transmission line materials include aluminum-clad steel reinforced wires, overhead ground wires, insulators, clamps, and tower angular bars/braces. The stolen materials are reportedly brought to various establishments in Metro Manila which either export scrap steel/iron/aluminum materials to China or manufacture steel/iron/aluminum products like rims, houseware, among others.
"We need the help of all our stakeholders in the Bicol Region to help us apprehend both sellers and buyers of stolen transmission lines. We hope everybody will do their share to stop this mounting problem," Aguilar added.
Republic Act (RA) 7832 or the Anti-Electricity and Electric Transmission Lines/Materials Pilferage Act of 1994 prohibits the possession, control, or custody of electric power transmission line/material by any person not engaged in the transmission or distribution of electric power, or in the manufacture of such electric power transmission line/material. Violators face 12 to 20 years of imprisonment and a fine ranging from P50,000 to P100,000. (MSN/Sunnex)
