Bid to topple NGCP transmission towers in North Cotabato fails

KIDAPAWAN CITY, North Cotabato—Unidentified men tried but failed to topple two transmission towers of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) in Carmen, North Cotabato, police said Tuesday.

Chief Inspector Julius Malcontento, Carmen town police chief, said unidentified persons planted six powerful improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on Towers No. 95 and 96 located in Barangay (village) Aroman and Barangay Kitulaan, respectively.

Quoting village officials, Malcontento told the Inquirer that loud explosions which came almost simultaneously were heard shortly before 1 a.m.

Nobody was reported injured in the  explosions, he said.

Police and military investigation showed that the suspects planted three IEDs on Tower 95 and another three IEDs on Tower 96.

All three IEDs, fashioned from 60 mm mortars with mobile phone as triggering devices and attached to the structure’s steel poles, went off.

“The tower remained standing and still serviceable,” Malcontento said.

Malcontento explained that the towers were not toppled may be because other steel braces of the towers remained intact and that the power lines helped in holding the affected structures.

Malcontento said the two structures were also bombed in the past with Tower No. 95 exploded last December 24, 2015 and Tower 96 sometime in 2006.

“No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings, we are gathering information as to the responsible persons,” he said.

The structures carry the 38 KV line from NGCP station in Kibawe, Bukidnon to another station in Kabacan, North Cotabato.

Malcontento said the village officials of Kitulaan and Aroman vowed to help the police identify the suspects. RAM

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