Electric meters stolen

After cellphone thieves, now come electric meter thieves.

Some 15 households in Sampaloc, Manila woke up Monday morning to a power failure. The reason: their electric meters were stolen by thieves.

The Sampaloc police station was swamped with complainants from residents of España, G. Tuazon and Earnshaw streets Monday, who reported the thefts of their electric meters.

The complainants said they first reported the thefts to the Manila Electric Company (Meralco), only to be told to direct their complaints to the police.

The residents said the thefts could have occurred in the wee hours of the morning when they were fast asleep.

Police said five electric meters were stolen in Earnshaw, six in España and four in G. Tuazon, all occurring between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. yesterday.

Investigator-on-case SPO2 Jessie Oliveros said the perpetrators could be members of a syndicate, who steals electric meters from households to be sold to electric cooperatives in the provinces.

"We have received reports that the stolen electric meters are being sold openly to electric cooperatives in northern Luzon provinces like Pangasinan at P1,000 each," Oliveros said, adding that Meralco, being the exclusive owner of these electric devices, should file a formal complaint with the police.

"What we have now as complainants are merely the subscribers, whose stolen electric meters are to be replaced by Meralco after paying fines," Oliveros said.

Sampaloc police station chief Superintendent Amador Pabustan, meanwhile, lamented the lack of policemen as one of the causes of the proliferation of petty crimes in his area of jurisdiction. – Nestor Etolle