Globe Cable Theft Suspect Arrested in Pampanga

A suspected phone cable thief was recently arrested by a joint police and personnel of Globe Telecom's Task Force Bantay Kable in Pampanga.

The suspect, identified as Harold Hombrebueno , a resident of Mabalacat City, faces criminal charges for theft of copper cables.  Hombrebueno was  arrested April 20 after he was caught in possession of cut cable copper wire estimated to worth PHP250,000.

Based on police records, four suspects were seen dismantling and cutting into pieces telephone cable wires during surveillance conducted along a grassy vacant lot at Northville 16, Barangay Atlu-bola in Mabalacat. Witnesses immediately informed authorities and a police team was dispatched in the area.

Upon seeing police personnel, the suspects immediately attempted to flee the area and police was able to arrest one suspect, Hombrebueno. Police later identified one other suspect, Wilson Honra, who still remains at large along with the other two.

Police said there has been a series of cable theft incidents within the area in previous months.

“We will continue to intensify our efforts to put a stop to cable theft. This is a major problem for us because of its impact on service,” said Ronald Uychutin, Head of Globe Security, Anti Fraud and Investigation Division, noting such illegal activities result in disruption of service and contribute to connection problems experienced by mobile and broadband subscribers.

“Cable thief has extensive impact not only to telecommunication companies like Globe but also to the subscribing public. The delay and disruption of services should be addressed not only by telco providers but also by the public,” Uychutin emphasized.

Uychutin added that Globe Telecom will continue to coordinate with local government units concerned as well as police concerned in addressing the problem.