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84 Iloilo City villages fire-prone due to illegal power lines

By Perla Lena

April 18, 2023, 6:48 pm

<p><strong>INSPECTION</strong>. Engineers of More Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) inspect the electrical connection of houses in Barangay Mansaya, Lapuz District in Iloilo City on Tuesday (April 18, 2023). The inspection was part of the Integrated Approach to Fire Prevention program initiated by the local government, MORE Power, the Bureau of Fire Protection, and concerned stakeholders to address fire incidents caused by electrical problems. <em>(Photo courtesy of MORE Power)</em></p>

INSPECTION. Engineers of More Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) inspect the electrical connection of houses in Barangay Mansaya, Lapuz District in Iloilo City on Tuesday (April 18, 2023). The inspection was part of the Integrated Approach to Fire Prevention program initiated by the local government, MORE Power, the Bureau of Fire Protection, and concerned stakeholders to address fire incidents caused by electrical problems. (Photo courtesy of MORE Power)

ILOILO CITY – About 84 of the 180 barangays in Iloilo City are susceptible to fire and 14,226 households in those areas are still using illegal connections, an official of an electric power distribution company here said on Tuesday.

Iloilo City targets zero fire incidents with the implementation of the Integrated Approach to Fire Prevention program initiated by the local government, distribution utility More Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), and concerned stakeholders.

MORE Power is the distribution company serving the city.

To prevent fires due to illegal connections, a team consisting of representatives of the city engineer’s office and office of the building official of the city government, safety officers and community relations officers of MORE Power, and personnel of the BFP visit target barangays for the inspection.

“More Power has deployed safety officers to do the electrical safety orientation and community relations officers to talk about applying for legal connection, while the BFP discusses how to eliminate and prevent fire in day-to-day living. Our technical team join the city engineers’ office and the office of the building official for the actual inspection,” MORE Power vice president for customer care and project head Maricel Pe-Calunod said in an interview.

She said a team has been visiting target barangays daily since the launch of the program in Barangay Alalasan in Lapuz district last week.

A lecture and inspection covering secondary lines, service drops, metering facilities, and flying and loop connections are done in a day.

With the inspection, they hope to ensure that all service lines are jumper-free, old Elevated Metering Centers and over-extended low-lying wires are rehabilitated, fire safety through community involvement is institutionalized, and households with no connections be regularized through the MORE Konek program.

“The reason why our community relations officers are joining the team is to encourage new applications otherwise, their use of jumper will lead to fire due to overload,” she added.

Early this month, Councilor Sedfrey Cabaluna, in a privilege speech at the Sangguniang Panlungsod, attributed many fire incidents in the city to electrical problems, such as illegal connections, tapping, unauthorized load side connections, and substandard wirings that lead to overloading.

He said 186 of the 300 houses in Barangays West Habog-Habog and San Juan that were burned down during what could be the biggest fire in the city have no legal connections. (PNA)




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