Another North Cotabato power tower bombed

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines – Gunmen bombed another transmission tower in Aleosan, North Cotabato on Thursday night.

Tower 63 in Barangay Pagangan was damaged after two of the four improvised explosive devices strapped to each of its four columns went off, according to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

The bomb was detonated using a mobile phone.

In a statement issued on Friday, the NGCP said they would fix the damaged tower as soon as possible.

Senior Superintendent Alex Tagum, North Cotabato police director, said an investigation is underway to determine the identities of those behind the attack.

The NGCP said 16 towers have been bombed as of November, causing widespread blackouts in Mindanao.

The Mindanao grid was placed on red alert last week after two units of the Agus hydroelectric power plant were isolated due to the bombings of transmission towers.

The NGCP urged the public to report suspicious activities near the transmission facilities.

The grid operator has also been facing right-of-way issues along its transmission towers in Mindanao as landowners refuse entry to linemen to clear and restore toppled lines.

Rehab cost

Meanwhile, the NGCP has filed an application with the Energy Regulatory Commission to recover the P25 million it incurred for the repair of typhoon-damaged facilities in the Visayas and toppled transmission facilities in Mindanao in January 2014.

The NGCP said Tropical Storm Amang and ”sabotage” damaged its transmission assets in Maguindanao, Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.

The grid operator said the affected transmission facilities were immediately repaired, rehabilitated and restored to avoid aggravating the power supply situation.

The NGCP sought to recover the cost from consumers starting this month until December 2020.

For Visayas, it proposed an additional pass-through cost of P0.46 per kilowatt per month this year, P0.19 next year, P0.15 in 2018, P0.14 in 2019 and P0.13 in 2020.

Mindanao customers will be charged an additional P0.05 per kw/month this year and P0.02 from 2017 to 2020.

The NGCP is allowed to recover the cost it incurred in the repair, restoration and rehabilitation of its transmission assets and other related facilities damaged by force majeure events, including typhoons. – With Danessa Rivera