Stormy winds trigger power outage in Meralco franchise area

(Updated 5:20 a.m.) Some areas within Metro Manila and adjacent provinces went dark early Monday as stormy winds affected power distribution lines of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco).   Residents with Twitter accounts sent out power outage advisories in hopes that Meralco would be able to restore electricity to their areas at the soonest.   According to their tweets, affected areas include Quezon City, Manila, Taguig, Mandaluyong in Metro Manila, as well as Antipolo in Rizal province and Imus in Cavite.   “Your area may be affected by an emergency line trouble due to inclement weather. As of now we do not have an estimated time of power restoration yet. All efforts are being exerted to restore power as soon as possible,” Meralco said through its official Twitter account.   Meralco added that “(t)here is still no estimated time of power restoration in all affected areas. Our crews are having difficulty in patrolling areas affected by power outage due to strong winds. Please bear with us.” In an interview Monday morning with GMA News' Arnold Clavio on Unang Hirit, Meralco spokesman Joe Zaldariaga said about 21 percent of the power distributor's franchise area was affected. He said some 54 area circuits have yet to have their power restored and some of these circuits are in Manila and Alabang in Muntinlupa.  — ELR, GMA News