MANILA - PLDT Inc said Monday it has prepared its personnel and mission-critical equipment such as emergency generators in Visayas and Mindanao in preparation for tropical storm Agaton.

The country's first storm this year made its first landfall on Calicoan Island in Guiuan town on Sunday. It is expected to make its second landfall over the eastern coast of Leyte.

PLDT and its wireless unit Smart Communications said its free calls and free charging stations are also on standby and are "ready to be deployed" in areas that would be heavily hit by the storm.

However, operations will only begin after the storm has passed for the safety of personnel, the telco said.

Several areas in Visayas and Mindanao were earlier placed under Signal No. 2 due to the weather disturbance.

• 'Agaton' slightly weakens; to make landfall over Leyte's eastern coast, says PAGASA
• 'Agaton' keeps strength, moving slowly over Leyte waters, says PAGASA

"We urge everyone to take necessary precautions and heed the alerts and warnings of local governments and disaster response authorities," PLDT said.

Several areas in the Visayas and Mindanao were hit by typhoon Odette in December. Critical infrastructure such as power lines and telco lines were damaged.

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