Power tower bombed twice as Palace forms task force

THE TOPPLING of this tower in Kabacan town, North Cotabato province, in September 2013 brought a massive power outage in the province and two others—Sultan Kudarat and Maguindanao. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

KIDAPAWAN CITY—An electricity transmission tower that had been bombed in January was bombed again on Wednesday, cutting off power supply in parts of North Cotabato and Maguindanao provinces and sending a message that authorities had been hearing over and over again—the towers that help light up homes in Mindanao are not secure.

According to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), the private firm that maintains the transmission towers, Malacañang has already formed a task force to secure transmission facilities that had become sitting ducks for sabotage and terror attacks.

The task force would be headed by the Department of Energy, according to Elizabeth Ladaga, NGCP information officer, in a text message.

Supt. Bernard Tayong, spokesperson of the North Cotabato police, said armed men strapped improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on the foundations of Tower No. 63 of NGCP in Aleosan town, North Cotabato, and set off the explosion past midnight on Wednesday.

Tayong, quoting investigation reports, said only one of the IEDs exploded. The other IED was found still strapped to the tower.

A village chair in Aleosan reported to police about a loud blast coming from the direction of the NGCP tower.

But while the explosion failed to topple the tower, it cut off cables that carry electricity and triggered power outages in parts of North Cotabato and Maguindanao, according to Tayong.

Tayong appealed to NGCP to make the first move in securing its towers by hiring private security contractors to guard transmission facilities.

Last month, NGCP said it is studying a proposal to form a militia-type unit to secure the towers and other transmission facilities. The proposal was made at a hearing of the House energy committee in Cagayan de Oro City.

Maj. Gen. Demy Tejares, deputy commander of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, said the proposal was welcome as the military could not possibly guard all NGCP towers in Mindanao.

Elizabeth Alabanza,  NGCP spokesperson, said the proposal, however, was not new to the firm.

“That (proposal) is being considered by NGCP,” Alabanza had said. “We are studying it, making sure that everything is above board and everything is with legal basis,” she had added.

NGCP, though, is also appealing to consumers to help secure the towers.

Luwalhati Antonino, chair of the Mindanao Development Authority, said previous attacks on Towers No. 20 and 25 cut off the supply of electricity from Agus 1 and 2 hydropower plants that produce at least 260 megawatts.

Antonino said the toppled towers have not been put up again as families that claim ownership of the land where the towers are located refuse to allow access to NGCP crew without settlement of their right-of-way claims.

Aside from the attacks, Antonino said right-of-way claims and refusal of landowners to cooperate in securing the towers “are seen to further aggravate  the problem.”

Five transmission lines are currently down because landowners where these are located refuse to give access to repair crew. The lines are also being threatened by vegetation, according to authorities. Williamor Magbanua with reports from Edwin Fernandez and Jigger Jerusalem, Inquirer Mindanao