Last night my friend had an emergency and asked me to call for help. Their house, which was near an electric post, lost electric power. The electric post which was being maintained by Meralco sparked and something went wrong that my friend's house and almost the whole apartment where they are staying lost power. It came to a point that they have to leave their home and the whole street was enveloped with a suffocating smell of burnt something. Good thing that the firetruck, courtesy of their barangay, and their neighbors had the right frame of mind and helped by spraying fire extinguisher to the said electric post.
Back at home, I had to look for the emergency number of Meralco to help my friend. Unfortunately, I had to dig into my directory and electric bill at home and did not have the correct and working number of Meralco. I had to surf the net to finally able to get the Emergency Hotline of Meralco which was 16211. I dialed their number and was answered by a machine telling me of their SMS Messaging hotlines 0920-9716211 for Smart and 0917-5516211 for Globe. The machine also mentioned their Twitter.
I had the number, that was great but it took a while for me to send my message to their number because I was kind of shaking and I am not a "text" person. In my mind, I was failing in this exercise, but this time it is real. Anyway, Meralco answered back and that's good but again through text only asking me the scope of the effect, the name of the person registered with Meralco, the exact address and the account number. What the ____?! I mean, Meralco, can you please call me so that I can give you an immediate answer so that you can respond ASAP! I was dialing their number but it just kept on ringing. This was between 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm. Also, I am just helping my friend out, do you need to ask me immediately those questions?! This is disappointing! I understand if Meralco wants those information but can they please call me. I then realized what will happen if I went through the same ordeal and I don't have that information on hand. So guys, those of you who are reading this, please get these kinds of information on hand.
Here is a list of Emergency Numbers You Should Know (via landline). Note: Mostly Metro Manila, Quezon City numbers.
1. BASIC UTILITIES
a). Electric Power Hotline (Meralco Emergency Hotline: 16211, Meralco SMS Messaging Hotline 0920-9716211 for Smart and 0917-5516211 for Globe, Meralco Twitter)
b). Manila Water Company: 1627
c). Maynilad Water Services: 1626
2. COMMUNICATION
a). PLDT: 688-2700 (when using PLDT), 888-8171 (for non-PLDT users)
b). Bayantel: 412-1212, 633-1111, 449-3000
c). SMART: 888-1111
d). Globe: 730-1000
e). Sun Cellular: 395-8000
3. COMMUNITY
a). Barangay Hotline (Quezon City)
b). Fire Department: 117, Quezon City - 928-8363, 928-3074
c). Bantay Bata: 163
d). DSWD: 931-81-01 to 07, 951-7119
4. ENVIRONMENTAL
a). National Disaster and Risk Reduction & Management Council: 911-1406, 912-2665, 912-5668, 911-1843
b) Bureau of Fire Protection (NC): 117, 729-5166, 410-6319
c) Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) flood control: 136, 882-0925
d) Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA): 433-8526
e) PHIVOLCS: Trunkline: (02) 426-1468 to 79, local 124/125 (emergency), Text/call: 0905-313-4077 (globe)
f). DSWD: 931-81-01 to 07, local 426 (Disaster Response Unit)
5. SECURITY
a). Philippine National Police (PNP): 117 or send TXT PNP to 2920
b). Non-Emergency Police Response
6. HEALTH SAFETY
a) Red Cross: 143, 527-0000, 527-8385 to 95
b) Ambulance Assistance: 117
7. ROAD SAFETY
a) Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Metrobase: Trunkline: 882-4150-77 loc. 337 (rescue), 255 (Metrobase), Metrobase: 882-0860, 136
b). North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) hotlines: 3-5000 and 580-8910
c). Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) hotlines: (0920) 96-SCTEX (72839) (traffic hotline) or (045) 459-0522
d). Skyway System Hotline: 776-7777, 0917-539-8762 (globe), 0999-888-0893 (smart), 0932-854-6980 (sun)
e). South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) hotline: 0917-6877539 (globe), (049) 508-7509, (02) 584-4389
8. SEA SAFETY
a) Philippine Coast Guard: 527-3877, 527-8481, 0917-724-3682 (globe), 0917-PCG-DOTC (globe)
Please leave a comment for non-working or inaccurate numbers. Information here are subject to change without prior notice.
Sources:
Company Websites
http://www.gov.ph/emergency-hotlines/
http://pnp.gov.ph/portal/contact-us/essential-telephone-numbers
http://www.quezoncity.gov.ph
Do they have a better procedure for handling emergency calls which is different from regular customer service matters. I was using mobile phone and have to go thru dial 1, dial 0 etc . it was eeeemergency!
ReplyDeleteJust this morning it was almost similar incident in our place.
Do they have a better procedure for handling emergency calls which is different from regular customer service matters. I was using mobile phone and have to go thru dial 1, dial 0 etc . it was eeeemergency!
ReplyDeleteJust this morning it was almost similar incident in our place.
There was similar incident this morning and I called Meralco and was handled like a regular customer service matter despite me saying its an emergency. I wonder if this is their procedure for emergency, dial 1, dial 0 etc cant remember and I using mobile phone and used up the load. Somebody reported earlier and still no action and no update if a unit has been dispatched. They should have a real emergency line with updated status. ATTENTION PLs_MERALCO
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