Two NGCP towers in North Cotabato bombed
DAVAO CITY — Two transmission towers, both in North Cotabato province, were attacked early morning yesterday, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) reported.
In a statement, the NGCP said Towers 95 and 96 of the Kibawe- Kabacan 138- kilovolt ( kV) transmission line located in Barangay Kitulaan and Barangay Aroman, respectively, in the town of Carmen were bombed Tuesday morning, but neither were toppled.
“Restoration of the two towers will commence as soon as the areas are secured,” the NGCP said in a text message.
The NGCP said this was the 4th and 5th bombing of NGCP towers this year.
“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,” the NGCP said in the statement.
“The NGCP appeals to the local community and its leaders to help identify the perpetrators of the bombings to prevent longer power interruptions.”
Before Tuesday’s bombing, the NGCP reported the bombing on March 1 of tower 63 of KabacanSultan Kudarat 138- kV line in Barangay Pagangan in Aleosan, Cotabato.
Tower 63 is the same tower hit by unidentified lawless elements on Jan. 14 and was repaired two days later when the NGCP managed to proceed with its restoration work without resistance from landowners.
On Jan. 18, another tower was bombed early in the morning. Tower 50 in Barangay Pantar, Dimayon in Bubong, Lanao del Sur is within the Agus 2-Kibawe 138- kV line. The tower did not topple.
One of the crucial transmission towers — tower 25 along Agus 2- Kibawe 138- kV line in Lanao del Sur — was repaired only on March 14 after this was bombed and toppled on Christmas eve. Repair and restoration was hampered because of the refusal of property claimants to allow the NGCP access to the tower site.
In 2015, 19 transmission towers were targeted, resulting in 16 toppled or damaged facilities.
As of yesterday afternoon, the Mindanao grid again fell into negative reserve with system capacity at 1,324 megawatts (MW) against peak demand of 1,484 MW.
The grid just had a relief into positive reserve levels on Saturday after more than two weeks of deficit as the 150-MW unit of Therma South, Inc.’s coal- fired power plant was put on emergency shutdown and repair, resulting in rotational brownouts in most major cities of Mindanao.
A special interagency task force was formed in February, on order of President Benigno S. C. Aquino III, to address concerns over the security of power facilities in Mindanao following the series of transmission tower bombings.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Security of Energy Facilities is led by the Department of Energy with representatives from the NGCP, the National Transmission Corp. for right- of-way issues, the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines for security, the Department of Justice for legal matters, and the Department of Education for information, education and communication campaign.