2 VECO wire thieves convicted

Two men were convicted to six-month imprisonment each for stealing portions of electrical wire of the Visayan Electric Company but two others are still at large for similar offense.

The Municipal Trial Court in Cities sent to jail Roberto Manatad, a resident of Labogon in Mandaue city, and ordered him to pay P1798.05 to VECO for the cost of the wire he stole.

Manatad was arrested last February 22 at Paknaan, Mandaue City where he was caught cutting off and taking about nine meters of VECO's drop wire, which is used to supply electricity to consumers.

Recovered from Manatad's possession was only 7 1/2 meters of the drop wire that contains gauge-10 of copper filaments.

He later pleaded guilty to the crime but his companion, Ruben Precillas, was able to escape and still at large since although a warrant of arrest was already issued against him.

The court also sentenced to a six-month prison term Jacob Villanueva Regodon, another theft of VECO's drop wire, who was caught and arrested at Urgello in Sambag I last October 10.

A fourth man, Junme Montesclaros Merino, who was charged of a similar offense, for which a VECO contractor testified that he stole rolls of electric wires stacked at the rear of a service vehicle along General Maxilom Avenue last October 6.

Merino was able to post P10,000 bail to get temporary reprieve but he did not attend the scheduled pre-trial of his case last month prompting the court to issue a bench warrant against him.

A bench warrant authorizes law enforcement officials to apprehend an offender and bring that person to court. - Ramil V. Ayuman