EMBOLDENED PERHAPS by our discussions here on the issues hounding the Angeles Electric Corp. (AEC), consumers of the Pampanga Electric Cooperative 2 have lately made us the sounding board for their own issues against their power provider.
While frequent black-outs resulting to busted appliances and unreasonable electric bills made the greater part of the plaints against Pelco 2 – just like AEC, it was pilferage that really riled the consumers.
Read the lamentations of a number of residents of Green Meadows Subd., in Barangay Mabiga, Mabalacat.
“Nung ninu pa ing dakal a pera, ya pang mapanako kuryente (He has the money, yet he still pilfers electricity).”
“Ing sakit koya, ika ming pakakalulu pa ing magkostas keng kelan nang marine (The hard thing is that, we, the poor, are the ones who pay for his shamelessness).” Of course, the cost of systems loss owing to pilferages is passed on by the power providers to the consumers.
The residents – who asked that they not be identified for fear of reprisal – point to an imposing building as “home of the biggest power thief in all of Mabalacat.”
And arguably the richest too, they said, claiming that an adjacent vacant lot had been purchased by the alleged “power thief” for use as parking lot for his fleet of luxury cars.
They alleged that the owner, reportedly a land developer currently building a towering “grand” condominium with a view of Clark, was caught red-handed with a “jumper” in a recent raid on his premises by Pelco 2 operatives.
A Pelco 2 source was quoted by the residents here as saying that on top of the house having centralized air-conditioning, it still had five separate air-conditioning units and is furnished with the latest high-end appliances including “extra large freezers” and refrigerators. Hence, the so-called load value of the house was not commensurate with the recorded monthly electric consumption worth only P1,900.
“The monthly bill could easily reach over P6,000.” So was the Pelco 2 source quoted as saying, adding that the owner was fined more than P150,000 for electric pilferage.
So that’s it?
Reporter Joey Pavia of this paper recently came out with a news story on pilferages in the Pelco 2 area. I asked him if he was given the list of power thieves caught by Pelco 2.
He said Pelco 2 management had this policy of not divulging the names of errant consumers to the public as that would be “unfair” to them.
Talk of fairness! How about those who religiously pay their bills and who bear the burden of the systems loss these power thieves pilfered? Paying the obligations of free-loaders is most unfair, and unjust, to the payor.
I have heard so much of the revolutionary zeal of current Pelco 2 general manager Amado “Ka Basil” Guevarra. This is one instance for that zeal to be translated to deed.
Systems loss has long mired Pelco 2 in debt, resulting to the poorest services among power providers in the province. You want systems loss minimized, if not totally eradicated, why not publicize the names of the power thieves in some sort of a Hall of Shame?
Incidentally, pilfering could be contagious. A contestant in a beauty contest named after the towering condo-with-a-grand-view being developed by that Mabalacat power pilferer was reportedly caught red-handed at SM City Clark for pilferage.
Shame.
While frequent black-outs resulting to busted appliances and unreasonable electric bills made the greater part of the plaints against Pelco 2 – just like AEC, it was pilferage that really riled the consumers.
Read the lamentations of a number of residents of Green Meadows Subd., in Barangay Mabiga, Mabalacat.
“Nung ninu pa ing dakal a pera, ya pang mapanako kuryente (He has the money, yet he still pilfers electricity).”
“Ing sakit koya, ika ming pakakalulu pa ing magkostas keng kelan nang marine (The hard thing is that, we, the poor, are the ones who pay for his shamelessness).” Of course, the cost of systems loss owing to pilferages is passed on by the power providers to the consumers.
The residents – who asked that they not be identified for fear of reprisal – point to an imposing building as “home of the biggest power thief in all of Mabalacat.”
And arguably the richest too, they said, claiming that an adjacent vacant lot had been purchased by the alleged “power thief” for use as parking lot for his fleet of luxury cars.
They alleged that the owner, reportedly a land developer currently building a towering “grand” condominium with a view of Clark, was caught red-handed with a “jumper” in a recent raid on his premises by Pelco 2 operatives.
A Pelco 2 source was quoted by the residents here as saying that on top of the house having centralized air-conditioning, it still had five separate air-conditioning units and is furnished with the latest high-end appliances including “extra large freezers” and refrigerators. Hence, the so-called load value of the house was not commensurate with the recorded monthly electric consumption worth only P1,900.
“The monthly bill could easily reach over P6,000.” So was the Pelco 2 source quoted as saying, adding that the owner was fined more than P150,000 for electric pilferage.
So that’s it?
Reporter Joey Pavia of this paper recently came out with a news story on pilferages in the Pelco 2 area. I asked him if he was given the list of power thieves caught by Pelco 2.
He said Pelco 2 management had this policy of not divulging the names of errant consumers to the public as that would be “unfair” to them.
Talk of fairness! How about those who religiously pay their bills and who bear the burden of the systems loss these power thieves pilfered? Paying the obligations of free-loaders is most unfair, and unjust, to the payor.
I have heard so much of the revolutionary zeal of current Pelco 2 general manager Amado “Ka Basil” Guevarra. This is one instance for that zeal to be translated to deed.
Systems loss has long mired Pelco 2 in debt, resulting to the poorest services among power providers in the province. You want systems loss minimized, if not totally eradicated, why not publicize the names of the power thieves in some sort of a Hall of Shame?
Incidentally, pilfering could be contagious. A contestant in a beauty contest named after the towering condo-with-a-grand-view being developed by that Mabalacat power pilferer was reportedly caught red-handed at SM City Clark for pilferage.
Shame.
