City council okays amnesty for power, water connections

BAGUIO CITY – The city council approved on third and final reading a proposed ordinance extending the amnesty to applicants for electric and water connections in the city for another six months.

The ordinance authored by Councilor Faustino A. Olowan stated the need to further extend for another six months the earlier 6-month amnesty approved by the local government for electric and water connection applicants in the city’s 128 barangays.

Ordinance No. 62, series of 2016 granted amnesty to applicants for electric and water connections in the city for a period of six months and that the period has lapsed.

The ordinance added the limited period of time, the additional requirements of the concerned offices and the financial constraint of the applicants have triggered the clamor to again seek for the extension of the amnesty earlier granted by the local government to the increasing number of electric and water connection applications from the residents in the city’s 128 barangays.

The proposed 6-month extension of the amnesty for electric and water connection applications in the city shall commence after the approval of the ordinance.

One of the major requirements being requested by the City Buildings and Architecture Office (CBAO) from applicants for electric and water connections in the city include the building and occupancy permits of owners of newly constructed structures but most of the time, concerned residents are not able to produce the said documents as their structures may have been erected on public lands or in properties they do not actually own.

The ordinance seeks to waive the aforesaid requirements in the electric and water connections of applicants so those interested individuals can legitimize their public utility connections with the relevant public utility companies.

However, the ordinance added that the waiving of the aforesaid requirements in the grant of their electric and water applications could not be used by the applicant as an excuse for the non-demolition of their structures when issued the appropriate notice of demolition for having encroached on public and private properties.

The local government recognized the fact that electric and water connections for residents are basic necessities, thus, it is waiving the required building and occupancy permits of structures when owners apply for electric and water connections during the amnesty period that may be granted but it should not be used by the concerned individuals to stop the demolition of illegal structures erected in public and private properties once the necessary demolition orders have been legally issued relative thereto.

Once demolition orders will be issued by the local government, the electric and water connections of the concerned residents will be eventually removed by the concerned public utility companies. -- Dexter A. See