City hall employee nabbed for cable theft in Malabon

Brownouts at the Malabon City Hall blamed on a spate of recent wire thefts may have ended following the arrest of a 36-year-old employee caught in the act of stealing electrical wire from the Meralco main line the other day in the city.

Suspects Emel Tenedero, 36, an employee of City Hall’s General Services Department and Edwin Tenedero, 32, a relative of the former, both of Letre Road, Tonsuya, Malabon City, were arrested the other day by members of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team for wire and cable theft.

The two were caught redhanded by SWAT operatives cutting off the lines right in front of the SWAT offices along C-4 Road, Longos, Malabon City.

Records showed SPO1 Efren Cauilan and a PO1 Eblisan were on routine patrol along C-4 Road at around 11:35 p.m. last Sunday when they chanced upon the suspects in the act of cutting the wires by the city park.

Recovered from the suspects were pliers, cutter, and the stolen electric wire estimated at P20,000, all taken as evidence. The suspects have been detained pending the filing of appropriate charges.

City Mayor Canuto Oreta said he has ordered a thorough investigation of the suspects and their possible involvement in recent cable and wire thefts in the area, believed to be responsible for the several instances of brownouts at City Hall that have resulted in lost man hours and compromising prompt service to the public. – With Zsarina Salazar