Contractor’s employees caught red-handed
PHONE CABLE THEFTS
MANGALDAN–It appears that most, if not all, of the telephone cable wire thefts in Pangasinan victimizing various telephone companies were an inside job.
The Mangaldan Police, in coordination with the Mapandan Police, arrested three men on November 9 over cable theft crimes, two of whom are employees of a sub-contractor of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT).
The three were caught red-handed while burning the rubber coating of telephone cable wires they stole in Barangay Pias, Mapandan.
Superintendent Mateo Casupang, chief of police of Mangaldan, identified two of the suspects as Isidro Quiambao, 28, of Mora de La Paz, Sto. Tomas, Pampanga; and Ramil Santiago, 19, of Nr. 027, Bolosan District, Dagupan City. They are both employees of Teleplan Philippines Inc., PLDT sub-contractor based in Manila.
Arrested with the two was Cesar Gatinga, 41, of Barangay Pias, Mapandan, caretaker of the lot where Quiambao and Santiago reportedly burned the stolen telephone cable wires to extract the copper.
Casupang said a passerby who smelled the burning rubber and plastic materials reported the situation to the police via a text message.
Upon receipt of the message, a team quickly rushed to the place with other policemen and found the three still burning the telephone cable wire.
Recovered from the suspects were one Toyota Tamaraw FX, the company utility vehicle of Teleplan Philippines Inc. with Plate No. TSX 235, one cable cutter, iron pipe measuring four meters, a ladder and a PLDT aerial telephone cable wire measuring 54 meters (303 by 26), 80 meters of 150 by 26 cable wire and 10 meters of 10 by 26 cable wire, all amounting to P43,018; and Digitel aerial telephone cable wires at 200 by 0.50 measuring 68 meters worth P150,000, all cut into varying lengths.
Casupang said cases of qualified theft were already filed against the suspects before the local court and they remain in jail after failing to post their respective bail bonds of P24,000 each.
At the same time, Casupang asked PLDT and Digitel to file their own complaints against the suspects and to be more circumspect now in choosing their sub-contractors.
Casupang said their work is just half-finished as they have yet to determine which junk shops the three suspects sold the copper.
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