Meralco braces for rains

MANILA, Philippines – Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is preparing its facilities in terms of storms and typhoons with the onset of rainy season and warnings of a possible La Niña event.

Meralco vice president and head of networks Ronnie Aperocho said the company has undertaken “storm-hardening” measures for the power distributor’s system.

“For the past two months, we focused more on the storm hardening of facilities. We prepared our system for the rainy season and the stormy months ahead especially from July up to the month of December,” he said.

Aperocho said the typhoon-proofing project also covers the replacement of wooden poles into stronger materials such as concrete and steel.

“We replaced all dilapidated (poles) especially the wooden poles. There’s around 36 percent of our total poles which are not yet replaced with the concrete or steel poles,” he said.

Meralco is also working on the relocation of its facilities affected by major public-private partnership (PPP) projects of government in Metro Manila and nearby areas.

“One of our main priorities are the execution or clearing of facilities that have been affected by PPP projects of government, especially with the Skyway Stage 3 project,” Aperocho said.