Guadalupe has to pay -VRESCO

MC Rural Electric Service Cooperative, Inc. (VRESCO) is set to collect the back bill of Barangay Guadalupe after it was discovered that the barangay's hall has not been paying its electric bill since 2005.

                
          Danilo Dumdum, VRESCO operation and maintenance supervisor, firmly stated that, "Mobayad gyud sila sugod sa 2005 hangtud sa date of disconnection."

Discovery

                Dumdum explained that Edwardo Cababa, VRESCO meter reader, found a broken meter on a VRESCO post together with the meters for the streetlights in Barangay Guadalupe. Cababa was able to trace the electrical connection to the Guadalupe Hall but discovered that the meter was not moving.

                Dumdum added that VRESCO San Carlos checked the meter number with the record of street light meters at the City Engineer's Office but it was not in the list. So on February 2, VRESCO installed a check meter to determine the amount of electricity consumption per day and on March 29, VRESCO disconnected the illegally tapped electricity of the barangay hall.

‘Not me’

                However, Guadalupe Barangay Captain Godofredo Salimbaga defends that when he became the barangay head in 2006, there was already electricity in the hall and that he did not think that the barangay was not able to acquire building and electrical permit. He added that during the term of former Barangay Captain Manuel Leduna there was connection already.

                Salimbaga and Barangay Councilors Carlos Martin, Romeo Descartin, and Narciso Guisihan all assumed that the San Carlos Local Government Unit had been paying for the hall's electricity consumption as they thought that its connection was tapped to the street lights.

                But Dumdum clarified that this is not the case. Guadalupe Barangay Hall's consumption has never been accounted for nor paid by the LGU and now the back bill that can cost roughly P 160,000 to 180,000 will have to be settled first before VRESCO will approve the application for a legal connection that Salimbaga has recently filed.

Assumption

                Salimbaga and the councilors however admitted that they were aware that no monthly bill has arrived in Guadalupe since 2005 and that their P 10,000 yearly allocation for electricity has never been used.

                "Nagtuo gyud ko nga sa syudad ra gabayad. Kumpyansa ra ko," the incumbent barangay captain said and added that he has not inquired why they get no VRESCO bill at all.

No trace

                Just like the VRESCO personnel, though, he does not know who tapped the connection. Guisihan recalled that during the construction of the barangay hall and when it was first opened in 2005, the employee in-charge for electrical connections at the City Engineering Office was still Mario Mamac who is no longer in government service.

                Dumdum said VRESCO can no longer trace whoever installed the connection.

                For the officials in Guadalupe, they think that the connection was established during the construction of the barangay hall. They suspect that an employee from the Engineering Office has placed the tap.

Handwashing

                During the NRWP interview, they all claimed that they were not aware that the electricity set-up was illegal and that they were not able to take any action upon learning that they do not receive monthly bills.

                As with any transgression, however, ignorance cannot be an excuse. By all means, Dumdum pointed that Guadalupe can face raps against R.A. 7832 or the Anti-Electricity Pilferage Law.