At the height of the New Year’s revelries, power utility giant Manila Electric Company (Meralco) is not leaving anything to chance primarily on firecracker-related incidents on its distribution system that it prepares contingency measures for such early on.

The distribution firm, in a press statement, indicated that it will be ready “to provide 24-hour assistance during the New Year celebration.”

According to Meralco external communication manager Joe Zaldarriaga, the company’s emergency crews “will be on alert, most especially on New Year's Eve and throughout the holidays, to ensure that Meralco will be able to respond to any contingency.”

He reiterated that “this early, (Meralco) already has contingency measures in place in case their facilities get affected by pyrotechnics and firecracker explosions.”

The utility firm’s overarching call then in the observance of the holidays is for the public to observe “utmost safety” at all times, since firecracker explosions triggers unwanted fire incidents that could render multitudes homeless -- a very miserable fate for any family when welcoming the new year.

Stressing that fooling around with firecrackers around electrical facilities could be a dangerous play, Zaldarriaga advised Filipino revelers to veer away from such practice even as they pick up with the spontaneity of the festivities.

“We advise the general public not to play with firecrackers and pyrotechnics near our facilities most especially electric lines and transformers because these may cause power interruptions and even start fires,” the utility firm executive has emphasized.

Apart from superfluous damage on facilities wrought by use of pyrotechnics and fire-cracker explosions, there have also been incidents in the past that power interruptions in the system may occur even at low-consumption periods, like holidays. Hence, this is one area that Meralco and other power providers have also been preparing for.

This is the reason, Zaldarriaga noted, why the company constantly upgrades and ensures that its facilities are in reliably-operating condition.

In emergency cases, Meralco enjoins the public to call their round-the-clock hotline number at 16211.