Phone service cut off in south

Subscribers of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) in Alabang and portions of Las Piñas and Parañaque found themselves without telephone service yesterday after a transformer of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) broke down, cutting off service.

Meralco crewmen are still determining the cause of the transformer breakdown, but theorized that it could be due to overload or burn out, or simply because the transformer which is dedicated to the PLDT Alabang Exchange is defective.

PLDT service was cut off in Alabang as well as portions of Las Piñas and Parañaque covered by the company’s Alabang Exchange at dawn yesterday and has not resumed as of presstime.

Meralco officials told The STAR that there was a delay in responding to the PLDT report on the service cut-off as the crew of the electric company were attending to a power outage in Las Piñas and Parañaque, this time caused by tripping or "wiredown" of a high-tension wire.

Meralco area team leader Alabang Raul Asis Torres said the 167 kilovolt-ampere (kva) transformer is defective but they are still trying to find out the reason for the defect.

"It is probably due to normal wear and tear, but we are still looking into it. But we will replace the transformer," he added.

PLDT switches and street cabinets are run by electricity.

While the telecommunications company has a battery back-up, it can only cover a few hours, PLDT retail business group head Butch Jimenez said.