NGCP tower bombed in South

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – A steel pylon owned by the privately-owned National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) in Lanao del Norte’s Kauswagan town was bombed, cutting power supply in several provinces.

A photo released on Tuesday, October 25, 2022 by NGCP shows the toppled Tower 8 in Lanao del Norte's Kauswagan town after it was bombed.

The NGCP said one person was also found dead near the toppled Tower 8. “The bombing resulted in the toppling of the tower. A still unidentified individual was found at the scene with fatal injuries. It is unclear if this is related to the bombing,” it said. 

It was unclear whether the lone casualty was the bomber or not. The body remains unidentified. 

The bombing occurred late Monday afternoon, October 24, with NGCP saying “responding authorities confirmed that lawless elements used IEDs to bomb the tower. The incident is under investigation.” 

“The company stresses that bombings only serve to increase the burden of the public, which must suffer through power interruptions when towers are bombed,” NGCP said, adding areas affected by the attack were the entire Zamboanga Peninsula region which comprises Zamboanga del Norte province, including Dipolog and Dapitan cities; Zamboanga del Sur province, Pagadian and Zamboanga cities; Zamboanga Sibugay province and the entire Misamis Occidental province, and some parts of Lanao del Norte.

NGCP said repairs are going on to restore the tower. 

No individual or group claimed responsibility for the attack, but previous bombings of NGCP towers had been largely blamed to rebel groups. 

NGCP steel pylons had been previously bombed by rebels in others parts of the region, accusing the corporation of encroaching on ancestral domain, an allegation strongly denied by its officials.

China has a stake with the NGCP, a consortium, which holds the 25-year concession contract and the 50-year franchise to operate the power transmission network, is comprised of Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp. led by Henry Sy, Jr., Calaca High Power Corporation led by Robert Coyiuto, Jr., and the State Grid Corporation of China as technical partner with four of 10 seats in the board of directors. (Mindanao Examiner)