• CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
An ordinance prescribing the guidelines for the issuance of special electrical permits for residential houses owned by urban poor residents of Bacolod City, was passed by the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod on first reading Wednesday.
Authored by Councilor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, the ordinance said access to electricity is a fundamental need of every household, and many urban poor in Bacolod City are hindered from securing regular electrical permits due to financial constraints.
There is a need to provide mechanisms to assist these families in gaining legal and safe access to electricity, thereby reducing the hazards of illegal electrical connections, it said.
The ordinance will cover all indigent families residing in informal settlements or urban poor communities in Bacolod City who do not process regular electrical permits.
The issuance of the special electrical permit (SEP) will be in lieu of the certificate of final electrical inspection required by the Negros Electric and Power Corp., it said.
The Office of the Building Official (OBO) will oversee the implementation of the ordinance.
The SEP may be revoked by the OBO for the following grounds: failure to comply with safety standards and requirements it has set forth; for violation of any provision of the ordinance or other relevant laws and regulations; use of SEP for purposes other than residential purposes; and for providing false information or fraudulent documents in the application process, it said.
A minimal processing fee of P50 will be charged for the issuance of the SEP, subject to inspection of the premises to ensure compliance with electrical safety standards, the ordinance said.
Any person found falsifying documents to obtain a SEP will be fined P1,000 or imprisonment for not more than 30 days, or both, at the discretion of the court, it said.*
