7,000 homes deprived of power over execs’ conflict

BAGUIO CITY – Some 7,000 households in this mountain resort city have been deprived of electricity service due to conflicting interpretations of the law by the city government and the Benguet Electric Coop.

While Beneco believes that the only documents required for electric connections to the households are the certificate of final electrical inspection (CFEI) and electrical permit issued by the city government, the City Building and Architecture Office (CBAO) insists that applicants for electrical connections should first have building permits for their structures.

Gerardo P. Verzosa, Beneco general manager, said the conflict over the interpretation of the law is putting both entities in a bad light, especially Beneco, because of the misperception that the cooperative is the one delaying the electrical connections to the houses of the applicants.

However, he said, the cooperative could not blame the consumers for their belief, but it is high time for city government officials to realize that they are wrongly interpreting the law and they are the ones depriving their constituents of electric service.

Despite the purportedly strict implementation of the requirement that the CFEI and the electrical permit are issued only after the building permit is issued, the Beneco official said CBAO has not been consistent in applying its own rules. He said he had noted that many residents were able to secure the CFEIs and electrical permits even if their structures have no building permit yet.

On this observation of Beneco, CBAO personnel said that the issued CFEIs and electrical permits to the applicants were fake.

Beneco officials said the city officials should be fair in the treatment of all applicants and should not be strict to some and lenient to others.

Verzosa said it is the city government’s policy which is wrong, and the cooperative should not be blamed for the increasing number of residential houses which are deprived of electric service.

In 1992, the city council repealed an ordinance making the presentation of a building permit as a requirement for the issuance of the CFEI and the electrical permit. – Dexter A See