Friday, September 05, 2008 MMDA cracks down on power pilferers
AFTER intensifying its crackdown on illegal sidewalk vendors, informal settlers and traffic violators, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has set its sight on electricity pilferage.
MMDA deploys several teams to various parts of the metropolis following reports of rampant theft by residents and even barangay officials illegally tapping traffic signal lights.
At the same time, MMDA chairman Bayani Fernando said they are set to file charges against residents of Barangay 375 along Rizal Avenue and Roxas Boulevard in Manila and their village chief after the agency stumbled upon illegal electricity connection hooked in a traffic signal light.
Fernando said the team from the agency's Security Intelligence and Investigation Office (SIIO) will be initially deployed to Quiapo, Tondo and Sta. Mesa, all in Manila, where authorities reported rampant pilferage in recent days.
Aside from Manila, illegal connections were also reported in the Camanava (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela) area.
At the same time, Fernando said they also discovered that the MMDA electric consumption bills for traffic signal lights has doubled at a time when the agency has strictly put in place energy cost-cutting measures since last year.
He said pilferage losses arising from the reported illegal power connections would bleed the MMDA coffers dry if such acts continue unabated.
Fernando likewise appealed for help from local government units and the police in dismantling illegally tapped connections adding that they continue to receive reports that pilferers have reinstalled their connection as soon as the authorities have left the place and at nighttime.
"No amount of relentless monitoring on our part would put a stop to these illegal acts unless the local governments and the police follow through our operation," the MMDA chief admitted.
He said it is not only the MMDA suffering from these losses but also the local government units (LGUs) whose yearly internal revenue contributions to the agency partly defray payments for electric consumption of all traffic lights in Metro Manila.
Under Republic Act (RA) 7924 which created the MMDA, LGUs are mandated to provide five percent of their income for the operation of the MMDA.
The deployment of MMDA operatives came after joint MMDA personnel and Manila policemen swooped down on Barangay 375 in Manila where they stumbled upon rows of houses, stores and even a barangay outpost whose electrical connection are hooked in the traffic signal light in the intersection of the roadway.
Authorities immediately cut off the illegal connections and replaced them with new lines, which according to SIIO officer Ely Pintang are now tamper-proof.
In a report to Fernando, Pintang said the area was under the jurisdiction of barangay chairman Rolando Bohol.
Charges for violation to RA 7832 or "An Act Penalizing the Pilferage of Electricity and Theft of Electric Power Transmission Lines and Materials" are being readied by the MMDA against the residents and the barangay leader. (AH/Sunnex)
