13-hr Lanao power outage found caused by snake

ILIGAN CITY—A snake, not sabotage, caused Thursday’s 13-hour power outage in Lanao del Norte province, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said.

Elizabeth Ladaga, NGCP corporate communications officer, issued the clarification on Thursday amid recent cases of bomb attacks that toppled NGCP towers in the Lanao provinces.

Ladaga said when the power outage took place, NGCP linemen inspected the 69-kilovolt line that stretches 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 had been electrocuted and had caused 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 was looking into the possible role of landowners, who have disputes with the NGCP over right of way, in the recent bomb attacks that toppled steel power pylons.

Col. Gilbert Gapay, head 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 initial findings, some landowners want NGCP to pay 600 to 700 percent of the value of their lands traversed by power lines.

Gapay said these landowners, who were not identified, had also warned NGCP of possible repercussions if their demand for higher payments is not met. Richel Umel, Inquirer Mindanao