This file photo taken in Kabacan town, North Cotabato, in September 2013, shows a transmission tower felled by a bomb. The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines said on Sunday that unidentified people bombed another tower in the province but failed to bring it down. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Two separate explosions occurred in South and North Cotabato on Saturday, damaging a transmission tower and the house of a vice mayor, according to reports.
The first was the bombing of a National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) tower in Carmen, North Cotabato.
“NGCP’s Tower #103 of Kibawe-Tacurong 138kV line in Brgy. Kitulaan, Carmen, North Cotabato was reportedly bombed in the afternoon of September 3. Fortunately, the tower did not topple,” the NGCP said in a statement.
It said the tower would be repaired as soon as the area was secured.
“The company stresses that the bombings only serve to increase the burden of the public, which must suffer through service interruptions when towers are bombed,” it said.
The NGCP also called on the public and the government to help identify the perpetrators.
Meanwhile, media reports said a grenade was lobbed into the compound where Polomolok Vice Mayor Elias Jovero and his family lived.
An ABS-CBN report said no one was hurt although the explosion damaged the ceiling and the glass windows of the house.
A security guard reportedly saw two men on a motorcycle before the blast. He failed to chase them as they fled towards a nearby town.
Jovero said he did not have any enemies who would want to harm him.
The two incidents happened a day after an explosion rocked a night market in Davao City, killing 14 people and injuring 67 others. KS/rga