Brownout hits Iloilo, Antique

ILOILO CITY—Brownout hit eight towns in southern Iloilo and several towns in Antique provinces after strong winds toppled a post that carried a transmission line of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.

​Based on NGCP’s advisory, strong winds and rains toppled the 69KV San Miguel (Iloilo)-Sibalom (Antique) line in Barangay Mambog, Oton, which caused brownouts in the area of coverage of Iloilo Electric Cooperative 1 (Ileco 1) and Antique Electric Cooperative (Anteco) since 11:25 p.m. on Friday.

According to Ileco 1 general manager Wlfredo Billena, affected are the towns of Leon, Oton, Tigbauan, Guimbal, Igbaras, Tubungan, Miag-ao and San Joaquin in Iloilo and several towns in Antique under the coverage of Anteco.

Sources inside NGCP who requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak on the matter said they had problems with the owner of the lot where the five toppled poles were located. The linemen of NGCP could not enter the area to conduct repairs because the unnamed owner of the lot would not give them permission. NGCP personnel were on the area to conduct restoration and repair but they were prevented from entering the area.

​It was learned from NGCP insiders that the landowner had a conflict with the National Power Corp. (Napocor) when the latter was operating the transmission line.

​NGCP assured the public that power would be restored upon repair of the toppled poles.