Cost of relocating power facilities with right of way to be shouldered by requesting party — Meralco

Requests to relocate Meralco facilities such as electric posts and cables with right of way would entail costs to the benefiting party, according to a representative of the power distributing company.

In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB, a senior citizen from San Pedro, Laguna asked for guidance regarding the electric cables that encroach on his residential property, posing some safety risks.

"Ilang dangkal na lang po, sayad na sa bubong ko 'yung kawad ng kuryente tapos ginawan ko po ng paraan, nilagyan ko po ng poste sa likod para po maitaas 'yung kuryente," Mang Ompong said.

The electric connections that intrude on his property were legal, according to him, but he can no longer recall whether the cables were already there when they moved to the area.

He claimed he only noticed the cables just several years ago. He wrote a formal letter of complaint to their barangay which forwarded the matter to Meralco.

"Nung ininspeksyon po nila, ang sabi po sakin maglalagay daw po ng poste dito sa gilid ko. Magbabayad po ako ng di ko matandaan, basta po 20 (thousand pesos) plus eh para mailipat po," Ompong said.

Ompong questioned why he should be the one shouldering the expense when it was the company who installed the facilities there.

Zen Fortaleza, the corporate communications associate of Meralco, said that Meralco ensures it has the right of way before installing any facility.

"Meron pong charge na nai-communicate  kay Sir Ompong, ibig sabihin po 'nun nauna po 'yung facility po namin," she said.

"Kapag may right of way po, nasa batas po 'yun, nasa magna carta po na halimbawa po may mag-request po ng relocation ng facility po namin... kung sino po 'yung magbe-benefit doon sa relocation, most commonly 'yung requesting party po, sila po 'yung magso-shoulder ng cost po kaya nagkakaroon ng paniningil," she elaborated.

The amount of the cost may vary depending on the evaluation of the company's engineers and the extent of work to be done.

Meralco vowed to properly accommodate Mang Ompong's concern and facilitate a review of his situation. — Dona Magsino/MDM, GMA News