Massive brownout hits Cotabato after power tower blast

DAVAO CITY—A tower of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, was hit by an improvised explosive device on Sunday night, causing a massive power interruption.

Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesperson of the military’s 6th Infantry Division, said Tower Number 168 in Kilometer 14, Barangay (village) Ladia, was destroyed by a loud explosion around 9 p.m. on Sunday.

Hermoso said the incident caused a “massive brownout in Cotabato City and adjoining areas.”

Hermoso said the ground troops reported that the tower collapsed and that IED components were recovered on the blast site.

The NGCP, in its Twitter account, said the Kibawe-Sultan Kudarat 138-kilovolt line was monitored to be out since 9:06 p.m. on Sunday.

“The NGCP is still checking the cause of the outage, as the ongoing encounter between the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) and Army troops near the area has prevented the NGCP from conducting line patrol and repair work,” the NGCP said.

MILF vice chair for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar, however, denied that MILF forces are involved in a firefight in the area. Karlos Manlupig, Inquirer Mindanao