In 2 police stations: High water, power bills baffle City Hall officials

CEBU, Philippines - At least two police stations in Cebu City were found to have very high electric and water bills, prompting the city government to request the utility companies to look into their situations.

Pardo Police Station allegedly has an average monthly electric consumption between P28,000 to P34,000 based on its electricity bills from January to June this year.

 Guadalupe Police Station, on the other hand, is consuming an average of P17,000 to P22,000 of water every month.

Councilor David Tumulak, who was designated deputy mayor on police matters, yesterday conducted an ocular inspection at the two police stations. Tumulak said he has already requested the Visayan Electric Company to check on the electrical wirings of Pardo Police Station for possible illegal tapping.  

"So ato ning ipa-verify kay unfair sad kaayo sa Pardo Police Station nga maoy butang sa resibo unya dili sila ang gagamit. Nagduda gyud ta nga naay naggamit sa kuryente nga mi-tap dinhi sa police station," Tumulak said.

According to Tumulak, an official of VECO promised to send personnel to the police station to inspect the electrical connection. He said he also asked the Metro Cebu Water District to check for possible leakage in the water connection of Guadalupe Police Station.

 Tumulak said he found out of the high electric and water consumptions of the two police stations after requesting the records from the General Services Office.

Tumulak said he asked for the records of how much the city government is spending for the police stations following the directive of Mayor Tomas Osmeña as part of the city government's effort to save money.

In a phone interview, Pardo Police Station chief Senior Inspector Robert Lucernas said he could not answer why the station is consuming electricity that big.

Lucernas said the station only have three air-conditioning units and six computers. The station used to only consume electricity between P5,000 to P6,000 every month.

Tumulak said it is also impossible for Guadalupe Police Station to consume P22,000 of water every month.

 "Impossible sad kaayo nga makahurot sila ana nga tubig, ipa-verify sad na nato sa MCWD," Tumulak said. (FREEMAN)