Snake, not sabotage, caused 13-hour power outage in Lanao Norte – NGCP

ILIGAN CITY, Philippines – A snake, and not a sabotage attack, caused Wednesday’s 13-hour power outage in Lanao del Norte, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said.
Elizabeth Ladaga, NGCP corporate communications officer, issued the clarification on Thursday amid recent bomb attacks that toppled NGCP towers in the Lanao provinces.

Ladaga said that when the power outage took place, NGCP linemen inspected the 69-kilovolt line that stretched from Agus 6 in Iligan City to Kauswagan town in Lanao del Norte.

She said the problematic section was found to be structure 50 in Barangay Tacub in Kauswagan.

When linemen took a closer look, Ladaga said they found that a snake was electrocuted and had cause the line to trip.

It was only after the removal of the snake that power was restored, she said.

As this developed, the military said that it has started into the possible role of landowners, who have been having disputes with the NGCP over right of way, in the recent bomb attacks that toppled steel power pylons.

Col. Gilbert Gapay, commander of the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade based in Lanao del Norte, said the attacks could have been the work of Moro rebels, who were related to some landowners.

He said based on their initial findings, some landowners have demanded that NGCP pay 600 to 700 percent of the value of their lands traversed by power lines.

Gapay said these landowners – whom he did not identify – had also warned NGCP of possible repercussion shoul it refuse their demands.  SFM