Moro rebel group blamed for bombing of power pylon

Soldiers rush to Barangay Tibao in Mlang, North Cotabato to reinforce their comrades figured in firefighting to more or less 50 Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighter (BIFF) Thursday morning. No one was hurt in an early morning village attack. WILLIAMOR A. MAGBANUA

KABACAN, North Cotabato – Police strongly suspect the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters was behind the toppling of a major power pylon of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines on Thursday night

The toppling of steel tower No. 141 in Sitio Malabuaya in Barangay Kayaga here around 7:40 p.m.  plunged the provinces of North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao and the city of Cotabato into darkness. Some 3.4 million people live in the affected areas.

Chief Insp. Jordine Maribojo, Kabacan police chief, said an improvised bomb similar to those used by BIFF forces in past attacks was set off at the foot of tower, which was connected to the Kibawe power station in Kibawe, Bukidnon.

He said the improvised explosive device, believed to be fashioned from a 60-millimeter mortar shell and fitted with mobile phone as trigger mechanism, was placed on one of the four legs of the tower, located about a kilometer from the Cotabato-Davao national highway.

“IEDs are signature armament of the BIFF, which has recently started harassment in Maguindanao and North Cotabato,” Maribojo added.

But BIFF spokesperson Abu Misry Mama denied his group was behind the bombing, it was not on their agenda to use explosives and topple power lines.

Mama said the authorities should investigate further before making any statements. But he admitted the BIFF was responsible for recent attacks  in Mlang, Tulunan and Midsayap towns, all in North Cotabato.

The latest was on Thursday when BIFF men swooped down on Barangay Tibao in Mlang. However, the rebels were intercepted by soldiers as they were heading for the village proper, Mlang Mayor Joselito Piñol said.

Piñol said an exchange of gunfire followed between the soldiers and the BIFF men, who numbered between 50 and 80, but there were no reports of casualties.

“Military howitzers immediately sprang into action and targeted an area  where the armed men are believed to be based,” he said.

Asked how certain officials were that the attackers were from the BIFF, Piñol said that as soon as news of the armed men arriving reached him, he called up leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the town.

“The MILF (leaders) in the area denied those were their men and assured us that they didn’t have any participation in the fire fight,” he said.

Based on data from the authorities, Thursday’s attack in Barangay Tibao was the fourth BIFF-instigated violence in North Cotabato in less than a week.

On Tuesday, BIFF gunmen also stormed a banana plantation here and in nearby Tulunan town, barely a day after storming Malingao village in Midsayap town, where they took more than a dozen hostages, mostly teachers, and killed three soldiers and two civilians.

Mlang and Midsayap North Cotabato towns bordering Maguindanao, where the BIFF maintains a strong presence, particularly in areas of the 220,000-hectare Liguasan Marsh.

Capt. Tony Bulao, speaking for the Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade, said Thursday’s attackers were the same men  who harassed a banana plantation in nearby Barangay Dungos in Tulunan on Tuesday that left one plantation security guard wounded.

Bulao said the increased BIFF movement was aimed at derailing the peace process between the government and the MILF.

The BIFF is composed of former MILF members and was founded by Ameril Umra Kato.

Kato left the MILF over disagreements regarding the peace talks with the government.

Kato was also among senior MILF leaders who led attacks on civilian communities in 2008 following a breakdown in an earlier round of peace talks.

(Reports from Carlo Agamon, Edwin Fernandez, Williamor Magbanua and Charlie Señase, Inquirer Mindanao)