MANILA, Philippines — The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said 13 substations affecting 1.2 million customers were still without power as of early Sunday due to flooding caused by tropical storm Ondoy in several areas.

These affected substations were Bocaue, Parañaque, Cavite, Las Piñas, Cainta, Taguig, Sampaloc, Kaybiga, Palomar, Tegen, Binondo, Angat, and San Miguel.

Meralco senior assistant vice president and call center head Alex Evangelista said that as of 2 a.m., Sunday, "Areas serviced by these affected substations remain to be without electricity."

Estimated count of Meralco customers without power as of this posting is 1.2 million, or a little over one-fourth of total registered Meralco customers.

Meralco is asking the public to bear with them as their crew men do a thorough inspection of their facilities first before restoring power in affected areas.

"Safety of residents remains to be the primary concern in restoring power to these affected areas. Unfortunately, the floods have been slow in subsiding and this impedes the progress of our restoration work in a number of our substations,” said Evangelista.

"Affected circuit numbers to 164 out of the total 683, representing 24 percent of circuits all over the Meralco franchise area. Power was cut off in these circuits mainly to ensure the safety of the public," he said.

Evangelista said that should customers have any difficulty getting through the Meralco hotline 16211, they could also text flood situations and other Meralco-related concerns over the following numbers: 09175592824 and 09209292824.

“We would like to assure our customers, though, that our men are working round the clock to be able to restore power in the most reasonable time possible," he added.