Transco looking into attacks on transmission line towers

State-owned National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) is closely coordinating with authorities conducting the probe on the recent bombing of its towers in Lanao del Norte.

OIC vice president for Visayas-Mindanao Operation and Maintenance Lorrymir Adasa said Transco is now discussing with local police and military officials the incident, while other steel towers in the area are being inspected for possible damage.

Improvised explosive devices toppled Steel Tower No. 7, situated along TransCo’s Abaga-Tagoloan/Lugait 138-kiloVolt transmission line, in Barangay Buenavista, Baloi town at around 9:04 p.m. on Sunday.

All four legs of the steel tower were severed and military operatives who conducted the inspection in the area recovered fragments of explosives.

Three hours later, Tower No. 39 of the same transmission line in Dalamas, Pugaan, Iligan City was also bombed. Three of the four tower legs were blasted, causing the tower to lean at a 70-degree angle.

A bomb, which failed to explode, was later found at the base of its fourth leg and was subsequently defused by the military’s bomb experts.

No power interruption was experienced by any of TransCo’s power customers in the area despite the incident.

TransCo’s Lanao District Office line crew and contractual workers are now fast-tracking repair and restoration works in the area.

Adasa said they would be replacing damaged conductors and other tower parts and installing Emergency Restoration System (ERS) structures. – Donnabelle Gatdula