Young asked to probe CITOM canteen's electric connection

CEBU, Philippines - An anonymous complainant has sent a letter asking Cebu City Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young to investigate the City Traffic Operations Management canteen for allegedly tapping their electricity from CITOM’s power lines without paying its consumption.

The complainant did not identify himself in the letter sent to Vice Mayor Young asking the city officials to investigate the report and stop the illegal practice because it is disadvantageous to the government.

The complainant said that the canteen, managed by the cooperative of CITOM personnel, has some appliances like two freezers, a refrigerator and other equipment that are getting electricity consumption from the CITOM’s power lines.

The canteen is situated behind the CITOM building.

According to the complainant, the canteen lacks documents from the concerned government agency to prove that it is being run by a cooperative and alleged that it has no sanitary permit from the City Health Department.

The report said that at 6 o’clock in the morning, some personnel from the CITOM’s engineering, planning and Traffic Violations Bureau (TVB), start working as canteen personnel.

It was reported that sometime last June and July, CITOM building’s electric power usually tripped off from 12 noon to 3 p.m. prompting traffic investigators to use candles while entertaining clients.

When The FREEMAN called CITOM’s communication center yesterday, the one who answered confirmed that they experienced constant power interruptions last June and July but the problem has been fixed by the Visayan Electric Company.

CITOM executive officer Rafael Christopher Yap confirmed that the canteen is run by the employees’ cooperative and does not have its own electricity connection.

Yap said Section 2, Article 62 of Republic Act 9520 provides that “cooperatives organized among government employees, notwithstanding any law or regulation to the contrary, shall enjoy the free use of any available space in their agency, whether owned or rented by the government.”

“Ang interpretation sa free use includes the utilities (The interpretation of free use includes the utilities),” Yap explained.

CITOM’s electricity consumption last April which included the office and all traffic lights in the city, amounted to P187,117 then went up to P248,711 the following month. The amount, however, went down to P240,644 last June and P226,227 last month.

Aside from the power consumption, CITOM also incurred P44,745 for water consumption last April then it increased to P46,909 for May. The amount again increased to P48,770 last June and P47,582 the following month.    - THE FREEMAN