MANILA - Around 16,000 households in the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) franchise area are still without electricity due to typhoon Santi as of Monday morning.

However, the 16,000 households represent only 0.36% of Meralco's 4 million customers, said Meralco spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga.

The number of households affected by the power outages is expected to decline by Monday night.

With the coming of another tropical cyclone, Meralco advised consumers to be ready with candles, batteries, food, and AM radio for updates on the weather disturbance.

According to the weather bureau PAGASA, a low pressure area over the Philippine Sea was spotted 360 kilometers east of northern Luzon as of Monday morning.

It is expected to bring occasional rains over central and northern Luzon in the next 2 to 3 days, which may become frequent over the country's eastern section. PAGASA said this may "trigger flashfloods and landslides."

Meralco also urged citizens to call them if they see tree trunks that are damaging power cables since these may cause brownouts.  The power distribution firm will cut these obstructions free of charge.

Zaldarriaga also appealed to politicians not to put posters or streams on their cables.

Meanwhile, Meralco said two transformers in the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines' Sucat Station were damaged during the weekend after it was flooded, causing brownouts in parts of Muntinlupa and Sucat. 

Power was expected to be restored in the affected grid on Monday 1 p.m.
 
Based on Meralco's data, parts of Quezon such as Lucban, San Antonio, Sariaya at Candelaria are still without power.

In Laguna, Alaminos, Bay, Liliw, Magdalena, Majayjay, Nagcarlan, Pila, San Pablo at Victoria are affected by brownouts, while in Rizal, the towns of Angono and Pililia are affected. -- report from Alvin Elchico, ABS-CBN News