Police nabbed a jobless man who was tampering with a power line Friday night in Caloocan City.
Senior Superintendent Rafael Santiago Jr., Northern Police District (NPD) intelligence and investigation division chief, identified the suspect as Roel Biones, 19, a resident of Bagong Barrio, Caloocan City.
The suspect yielded a pair of pliers, a black electrical wire measuring around 15 meters, and another white electrical wire some eight meters long.
Police Officer 2 Arnel de Guzman of the NPD’s investigation branch said Roger Santo Tomas, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) inspector assigned to the northern part of Metro Manila, requested police assistance from the NPD earlier in the day as he was about to verify reports of rampant illegal power connections in Bagong Barrio.
Accompanied by PO3 Policarpio Panganiban and PO2 Nicanor Zablan, Santo Tomas chanced upon Biones while the suspect was in the act of tinkering with the Meralco secondary power line at the corner of Malolos Avenue and G. de Jesus street at around 6:30 p.m.
Illegal power connections are also rampant in Kaunlaran Village in Dagat-Dagatan, including Barangay 20.
Despite the efforts of barangay chairman Rosa Justo and Meralco personnel to get rid of power theft in the village, illegal power connections continue to proliferate, reportedly in cahoots with unscrupulous police officers and Meralco inspectors.— Pete Laude