By Mae Singuay

The Bacolod City government and the city police office held a meeting on Wednesday, April 12 at the City Government Center after residents complained of internet outages.

City administrator Pacifico Maghari III said they are intensifying their campaign to stop pilferage of cable wires.

“This is a coordinated effort nga bantayan gid ang kinawatay. I-close monitoring man namon [ang mga junkshops],” Maghari said.

“Kung wala sang mabakal, wala man may mangawat,” he added.

Maghari has also requested junkshop owners to coordinate with them.

Data from a telecommunication company showed that there were 400 theft incidents reported in the city.

This is more than one incident per day, Maghari said.

“We have asked the police to organize a team to apprehend the culprits,” he added.

The city also asked assistance from the prosecutors to help in the campaign and to stop these incidents.

Maghari said the suspects will be charged with theft and it is a bailable crime.

Due to massive incidents of pilferage on internet cable wires, some areas in Bacolod have been experiencing internet outages since Wednesday, April 12.

It was reported that the stolen fiber wires, particularly in the downtown area, affected many subscribers.

Telecommunication firms started to replace stolen wires, but it takes three days to restore./MS, WDJ