Newly repaired power transmission tower bombed anew in Lanao Sur – NGCP

Power transmission towers in Mindanao are constantly under threat from bombers. In this 2016 photo, workers from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines and soldiers guard one tower in Lanao del Norte. (Photo by Richel Umel, INQUIRER MINDANAO

COTABATO CITY — Another transmission tower in Lanao del Sur was bombed and toppled Tuesday night, just as the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) announced the restoration of the Agus 2 hydropower plant to the power grid.

Cynthia Perez-Alabanza, NGCP spokesperson and head of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, said Tower 25 in the village of Linamon in Ramain town was bombed at past 11 p.m. Tuesday and cut off electricity in some parts of Mindanao.

The same tower was bombed on Christmas Eve and it took more than three months for the NGCP to repair the structure due to right of way claim issues.

Tower 25 was part of the transmission towers that transmitted 138-kilovolt Agus 2-Kibawe line.

“This is the 6th bombing of NGCP towers this year. Restoration of Tower 25 will commence as soon as the area is secured. The company stresses that the bombings only serve to increase the burden of the public, which must suffer through service interruptions when towers are bombed,” Alabanza said in a statement.

Repair works for Tower 25 was delayed early this year due to the refusal of lot owner, the Sanbitory family, to allow NGCP field workers to restore the structure.

Another example of a toppled power transmission tower in Mindanao, this time in Kabacan, North Cotabato. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO, September 2013)

Nobody claimed responsibility for the bombing of Tower 25.

The military under the 103rd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army deployed troops from 65th Infantry Battalion to secure the area for the restoration work.

Elizabeth Ladaga, an NGCP corporate communications officer, said that as of May 4, NGCP had an 80-megawatt deficiency, and that the bombing on the tower caused power outage in some areas in Mindanao.

“However, the NGCP has a 373-MW power reserve for May 9 elections,” Ladaga added.  SFM