Manila, Nov. 6 -- Around 7 million power consumers are affected by outages due to the impact of Typhoon Tino (Kalmaegi), but Energy Secretary Sharon Garin called for understanding and assured that restoration efforts continue.

In an online briefing Wednesday, Garin said personnel from the various energy-related government agencies and those from the distribution utilities (DUs) are working non-stop as much as they can despite limitations due to flooding.

She said safety of the field personnel should also be considered vis-a-vis the goal to fully restore power in typhoon-hit areas, to prevent untoward incidents recorded in the past.

"I do believe [we can restore power] within hours or days, hours pa nga kasi yung iba nagre-restore ngayo...