Power to the people....

While caught in traffic late last week, I snapped a couple of photos which, in a nutshell, describe the state of the electrical distribution system in dense, residential areas in the Philippines:

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Because of the prevalence of electricity pilferage (meter tampering, among others), these meters are placed about ten meters above street level. Question is, how do you get to read them?

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I know Fire Prevention Month was last March, but with electrical connections as haphazard as this, it's a wonder that we haven't had as many electrical fires as we could have. The scary part is, electrical connections in highly congested residential areas are all virtually like this. Perhaps this is something the authorities better look into.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Thing is, MERALCO doesn't give a shit about these power thieves because paying consumers like you and me end up paying for the losses. The blame should really go to the ERC for allowing MERALCO to include their losses on top of the other stupid add ons in our monthly billing.

This is so obvious that I wonder why the government is allowing this company to get away with it. It's no mystery why we have the highest power bill here in Asia.
April 10, 2006 4:57 PM
Ronald Allan said…
Certainly makes you wonder, doesn't it?

We Filipinos are very charitable. Imagine, some jerk is probably getting rich off of our electrical bills. And the majority of us are not even aware of it.
April 10, 2006 7:54 PM
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