Explosions rock North Cotabato; NGCP tower toppled

KIDAPAWAN CITY —Two explosions rocked North Cotabato on Thursday evening but there had been no reported injury, the police said Friday.

Superintendent Bernard Tayong, North Cotabato police spokesperson, said the first incident took place in Midsayap town when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off beside the national highway in Purok Mirasol in Barangay Polomoguen around 10:30 p.m.

Tayong disclosed that the IED that went off in Midsayap had been rigged with at least a kilo of nails.

Superintendent Guilbert Tuzon, Midsayap police chief, said the explosion took place amid the town’s preparations for the Sto. Niño feast on Sunday.

He could not say for certain though if it was an attempt to sabotage the festivity.

Tayong said a few minutes before midnight on Thursday, a steel tower of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) in Aleosan town was also toppled by an IED.

READ: AFP vows to secure NGCP towers in Mindanao

The toppling of the tower caused power fluctuation in the towns of Pikit, Aleosan, Midsayap, Pigcawayan, Libungan and Alamada, he said.

The responding bomb squad also recovered another unexploded IED near the tower, Tayong said. CDG
READ: More power outages seen in Mindanao as bombed transmission tower remains unrepaired