The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) has been bombarded with complaints on Twitter since its services have been interrupted because of strong winds and rain.
Metro Manila experienced continuous rain over the weekend. But on Monday, when strong winds toppled electric posts and power interruptions ensued, people who had to work started to complain.
@gapolicarpio shared a photo of a fallen electric post and tweeted to @meralco, "Please take note. This is in Brgy. Alabang Muntinlupa. An electric post has fallen on the streets on Saint Michael corner Saint Peter. Electric wires are exactly on top of the humps and isn't that visible for drivers passing by this area. Please be alert when driving and keep safe."
@ProfessorUno added, "Fallen post is a hazard to motorists and pedestrians!!!"
@jake08195040 shared a video and an "update" to Meralco, which showed its electric wires causing fire to a nearby tree. "Baka mamaya may pritong ibon na kaming maabutan (Maybe later we will find a fried bird)," he wrote. "Need ko pa bang kakilala si @BenTulfo para kami ay pansinin ninyo? O kaya si Ms. @lizasoberano? (Do I need to be friends with Ben Tulfo for you to notice me? Or maybe Ms. Liza Soberano?)"
@kervsky suspected that another wire theft incident occurred in his area since they have been experiencing a power outage. "Apparently, at least two trees fell in the village this day, one hit a bunch of power lines which included ours, so now we're at the mercy of Meralco," he said.
Aside from these complaints, other netizens were dealing with disconnection of services. @PurryPoptarts fumed against @meralco: "Hello! Can we clarify our account/bill? Tried to pay via Gcash/GCredit today and was barred as the account was scheduled for disconnection? WE DO NOT HAVE ANY DELAYS IN PAYMENT NOR DO WE HAVE ANY PREVIOUS DUE DATES WHY THE SUDDEN DISCONNECTION WITHOUT NOTICE?"
Others were concerned about having no electricity. "Better Living, Parañaque City area without power for the past hour or so. Any update as to why and what happened? Thank you!" wrote @liezziec.
@papertwines tweeted, "Hi! Mandaluyong area. Was just wondering when will we get the service back up? Working from home."
"Power outage here at Town & Country Subdivision, Molino 3, Bacoor Cavite," said @kyliextine. "Can you let us know the cause and the estimated time it will be resolved?"
@jownkeyt also told @meralco, "Wala pong kuryente samin (We don't have electricity) and I’m working from home. Please look into it. It’s not like you’re going to compensate me for this."
Meanwhile, @iammikemallari has attempted to call and send messages to Meralco to have their electricity back up but unfortunately, "no one replied."
Given the concerns of netizens that seem to go unnoticed by Meralco, @quirkyindioboy criticized the power distribution company: "This is what Meralco is made of. A few hard rains and few strong winds, their facilities break down. Fragile ."