Mindanaotoday.com | Toppled tower triggers brownouts in WestMin
By: Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – More than two hours of power interruptions are being experienced by residents in Lanao del Norte and Misamis Occidental provinces as well as in the entire Zamboanga peninsula in Mindanao after a pylon was toppled down due to a bomb explosion late Monday, October 24, afternoon.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, in an official statement, said the tripping off of its Baloi-Aurora 138 kilovolt transmission line came after Tower No. 8 in Bagombayan village in Kauswagan town, Lanao del Norte was bombed by still unidentified persons.
Beth Ladaga, NGCP regional corporate communications officer, said that to prevent overloading of remaining power lines, manual load dropping (MLD) of electricity has been resorted to this has affected the two provinces in Northern Mindanao as well as Zamboanga Peninsula region.
Ladaga said that aside Lanao del Norte and Misamis Occidental, MLD-affected areas are Zamboanga del Norte (including Dipolog City and Dapitan City), Zamboanga del Sur (including Pagadian City and Zamboanga City), and Zamboanga Sibugay provinces.
“We experienced two to three hours of brownout, starting at 5 pm yesterday (Monday),” said Danilo Omega, an education program supervisor at Tangub City Schools Division, confirming the entire city and the rest of Misamis Occidental was affected by power interruptions.
At about 7:30 am Tuesday, October 25, power supply in the entire city of Iligan and parts of Lanao del Norte was interrupted.
The same NGCP statement disclosed that the body of an unidentified person was found near the collapsed transmission tower with fatal injuries, but is still unclear if he was responsible for the bombing.
It said that responding authorities, who are currently investigating the incident, have confirmed that an improvised electronic device (IED) was used to bomb the said tower.
The NGCP has coordinated with the military and law enforcement agencies to secure the area as repair works are being conducted.
“The company stresses that bombings only serve to increase the burden of the public, which must suffer through power interruptions when towers are bombed,” the NGCP said, adding that activities within or along the power transmission lines which disrupt the transmission of power is punishable by law.
It also reminded that those found guilty of deliberately disrupting the flow of electricity could be penalized with a fine of P200 thousand and/or 12 years imprisonment.
Meanwhile, four 69-kilovolt lines have already been restored and these include the Polanco-Roxas, out at 4:52 pm Monday, in at 6:19 pm, thereby restoring power to Dipolog and Dapitan cities and parts of Zamboanga del Norte which the Zamboanga del Norte Electric Cooperative services.
Power in the Aurora-Calamba line, out at 4:54 pm Monday, in at 6:06 pm, was restored in the entire Misamis Occidental served by the Misamis Occidental Electric Cooperative Inc. 1 and 2 while the Pitogo-Tulungatung line was out at 4:52 pm Monday and in at 6:02 pm, thus restoring power to parts of Zamboanga City which is being served by the Zamboanga Electric Cooperative.
The NagaMin-Sirawai line was out at 6:01 pm Monday and in at 7:23 pm, restoring power to parts of Zamboanga-Sibugay and parts of Zamboanga del Norte provinces which are served by the Zamboanga del Sur Electric Cooperative 2 and Zamboanga del Norte Electric Cooperative.
As of 11 pm Tuesday, October 25, 69-kilovolt lines that are still out are Aurora-San Miguel which was out at 4:54 pm Monday and has been affecting Pagadian City and parts of Zamboanga del Sur which are being served by Zambonga del Sur Electric Cooperative 1.
Still to be restored is the Nagamin-Malangas line which was out at 6:30 pm Monday, affecting parts of Zamboanga-Sibugay served by Zamsureco 2, and the Aurora-Magangon which was out at 7:19 pm and has affected parts of Zamsureco 1. (MT)
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