Telcos, Meralco working to restore services in areas affected by Kristine

ESSENTIAL NEED Residents in Ligao City, Albay, take advantage of the free charging service for mobile phones offered by Primos Bistro Restaurant on Wednesday, as power supply in the province remained unstable due to Severe Tropical Storm “Kristine.” —MICHAEL B. JAUCIAN

Telecommunication companies, internet service providers, and power distributor Manila Electric Co. said on Thursday they were working to restore services to customers in areas affected by Severe Tropical Storm “Kristine” (international name: Trami).

In a statement, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said that telcos suffered service outages in Bicol region, eastern Visayas, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon provinces) and northern Luzon.

“The primary reason for these telecommunication services disruptions were commercial power interruptions, which were either preemptively initiated by power companies/electric cooperatives or naturally caused by the typhoon,” the regulator explained.

The NTC said that generator sets were deployed to supply temporary power to the networks.

“For areas where it is safe to conduct repairs, service restoration efforts are already ongoing to minimize service downtime,” it added.

On standby

PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. have been on standby to extend aid amid the typhoon.

“Despite the impact of Typhoon Kristine, PLDT and Smart’s network services have remained relatively stable, except for areas in Bicol that continue to experience commercial power outages,” the Pangilinan-led telco giant said in a statement.

Converge ICT Solutions Inc. also dealt with service disruptions in the Bicol region, Cagayan Valley, Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Cordillera Region, Eastern Visayas, and Ilocos region. As of Oct. 23, it has restored 32 percent of its services in the mentioned areas.

As of 4 p.m. Thursday, more than 389,000 customers across Meralco’s franchise areas were affected by power interruptions.

The majority were residents of Laguna and Cavite, while others were in Batangas, Quezon, Rizal, Metro Manila and Bulacan.

“We assure our customers that our crews are working round-the-clock to restore service as soon as possible,” Meralco vice president Joe Zaldarriaga said.

Salary and pension loans, meanwhile, are available to Social Security System (SSS) members and pensioners affected by Kristine, according to SSS Senior Vice President for Lending and Asset Management Group Pedro Baoy.

To be eligible for a one-month salary loan, employed, self-employed, and voluntary members must have made 36 monthly contributions, with at least six of those contributions occurring within the 12 months leading up to the loan application. —WITH A REPORT FROM MARIEDEL IRISH U. CATILIGO