Unpaid P44-M electricity bill leaves QC police station in darkness

No thanks to unpaid electricity bills amounting to P44 million, a police station in Quezon City found itself literally thrown back to the Dark Ages. A report by radio dzBB's Manny Vargas Thursday said the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) cut off power supply to the Quezon City Police Station 10 in Kamuning over the unpaid bills since 2005. Police were forced to resort to alternative ways of doing their jobs, as the computers they use for records and documentation were useless. They also had no choice but to sweat in the heat as the air-conditioners and electric fans there were not running. Station commander Superintendent Victor Arevalo admitted they could not do much about the situation except to cope with it for now. The power cutoff also affected the station's traffic unit and even the press office, the report said. A separate report on dzXL radio said power to the station, which covers the city's Kamuning district, was cut off since 2 p.m. Wednesday. It also affected inmates in the police station jail, who complained of mosquito bites. On the other hand, the dzXL report said police Scene of the Crime Operation (SOCO) teams in the station were forced to go "off duty" as their equipment that required electricity were rendered useless. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV