By Dominic B. dela Cruz
Staff reporter
Laoag City—The city government here is cracking down on those who are illegally tapping into the city’s streetlights.
Laoag mayor Chevylle V. Farinas warned that the city government will deal with illegal wiretappers harshly.
The crackdown stemmed from a case where Brgy. Sta. Maria kagawad Cesario Pascual allegedly tapped into a streetlight in their barangay.
“Personally, no siyak lang mapakawan ko isuna ngem iti problema ket adda met pagdalanan na nanga umno a wagas wennu proseso aglalo ket illegal connection,” the mayor said.
The city government may file administrative and criminal charges against the kagawad.
The Laoag government pays for the electric bills of all streetlights in the city. Each streetlight has their own electric meters.
The city’s general services office (GSO) discovered that a “kubo” has tapped into the Brgy. Sta. Maria streetlight. The office’s probe further stated that the illegal connection resulted into thousands of pesos billed to the city government.
As a result. GSO head Benedicto Castro instructed his men to check all the streetlights in the city. So far, the GSO discovered two more alleged illegal connections at Brgys. Dibua and Araniw. They are still investigating these.
Meanwhile, the city’s Liga ng mga Barangay president Mary Michelle Louise “Mikee” V. Fariñas said they are ready to tackle the issue should the city government file a case against Mr. Pascual.
Ms. Fariñas, an ex-officio council member and barangay affairs committee chair, said they will treat any administrative case that may arise from the issue fairly.
Mr. Pascual, for his part, said that he is ready to face the consequences of his action.
He admitted that there they illegally tapped into the streetlight but claimed it was not for his personal use but for the association of farmers. He added that they use the electricity during their meetings.
Mr. Pascual apologized to the city government because he failed to inform the city government, which shoulder the payment of the bills.
In a related development, Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative general manager Engr. Felino Herbert P. Agdigos said that he learned about the issue but no formal report has reached him yet.
Mr. Agdigos said that once a report reaches him they can ascertain if the case violated the Anti-Pilferage Law.