Makati Mayor Abigail Binay (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Makati Mayor Abigail Binay called on the police and communities against streetlight wire thieves and electricity tappers whose actions had cost the city about P6 million.
“We as a community must take action and put a stop to the rampant stealing of wires and accessories of our street lampposts that repeatedly plunged many of our streets in darkness,” she said in a statement issued on Friday.
According to a report by the Office of the City Engineer, since July 2016 the Makati government has spent P5,754,424 to fix damaged lampposts and street wires – P4,426,480 for the materials and P1,327,944 for labor.
The report said Makati had 1,350 damaged street light poles and 54,000 meters of damaged street light wires because of wire theft and illegal connections.
The mayor particularly noted the unlit stretch of Ponte Street from Pasong Tirad to Primo Rivera in Barangay Tejeros, where informal settlers dwell.
“These lawbreakers have not only put to waste millions of pesos worth of taxpayers’ money, but have also seriously endangered residents and other innocent civilians passing through affected streets,” Binay said.
The mayor urged residents to report them to authorities and ordered Makati police and barangays to step up patrols. She noted that criminal elements were known to prey more on pedestrians in unlit streets, which also made motorists passing through them accident-prone.
Violators of Republic Act No. 7832, or the Anti-Pilferage Law face to up to 20 years in jail, or a fine of P100,000 at most.
Recently, police arrested two suspects caught in the act of illegally tapping on street wires at the Manila South Cemetery. They were Mark Gil Gonzales of Barangay Olympia and Hondrada Demalgen, who resides in the cemetery.
The mayor told Makati police to fo after individuals or establishments buying stolen wires and accessories and arrest them for violating the anti-fencing law. /atm