AROUND 488 meters owned by the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) have reportedly been stolen from their customers from January to May 20 of this year.
The number of MCWD water meters stolen from January to May this year is already 222 percent higher than the total number of stolen meters for the whole year of 2021 which was only 219.
In a statement sent to SunStar Cebu on Friday, May 20, 2022, members of the MCWD Board of Directors led by lawyer Jose “Joey” Daluz said they had ordered its legal department to design an action plan and coordinate with local police within their franchise areas in order to arrest those responsible for the theft of their water meters.
Of the 488 cases of theft, 253 occurred in Cebu City, 80 in Lapu-Lapu City, 67 in Talisay City, 55 in Mandaue City, 22 in Compostela, seven in Liloan, three in Cordova and one in Consolacion.
The local police force in Talisay City already sent personnel to MCWD to ask for more information about meter theft and assured that they will investigate the matter.
The water district is also asking the public to be vigilant and to report any case of water meter theft that they know of to MCWD’s Call Center at 254-8434 local 0 or through Facebook (FB) page Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) and through FB Messenger.
If a water meter is stolen, the consumer’s water service is automatically interrupted as the meter connects the stub-out to the service line leading to house.
It also poses the risk of water contamination as the line is already open once the water meter is removed.
To request for replacement for a stolen water meter, the consumer has to report the incident to the police station and ask for a police report before visiting the MCWD One-Stop Shop.
In order to identify and put to jail water meter thieves and buyers, the MCWD is offering a cash reward to those who can give information that would lead to their arrest.
A reward of P10,000 is given to anyone who can help in the arrest and prosecution of meter thieves and buyers of stolen water meters or a fence.
The Anti-Fencing Law of 1979 defines fencing as the act of any person, who with intent to gain for himself or for another, of buying, possessing, keeping, acquiring, concealing, selling or disposing of, or in any other manner deal any article, item, object or anything of value which he knows, or should be known to him, to have been derived from the proceeds of a crime of robbery or theft.
Fencing is punishable by prision mayor or prision correccional depending on the value of the property involved, MCWD added. (JKV with PR)