Maguindanao power post bombed

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines – Gunmen bombed a power post of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) in the municipality of Sultan Kudarat in this province shortly before midnight on Friday.

It was the seventh attack on a similar structure in Central Mindanao in just six months.

The attack, however, did not cause any power outage in Cotabato City and the surrounding towns of Maguindanao and North Cotabato.

Reports said the gunmen used an improvised explosive device (IED) to take down NGCP’s tower 168 in Barangay Ladia at around 11 p.m.

Investigators said the bomb was detonated with the use of a mobile phone.

The military and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were helping the police track down the bombers.

Barangay Ladia is near the MILF’s Camp Darapanan, located northeast of Sultan Kudarat.

The brigand Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) had been blamed for all the bombings of NCGP towers in the adjoining Maguindanao and North Cotabato provinces in recent months.

The BIFF does not recognize the interim ceasefire pact between the government and MILF.