Bombs damage power pylon in North Cotabato

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - Gunmen on Thursday night tried to destroy another power relay pylon in North Cotabato’s Aleosan town using home-made bombs.

Only two of the four improvised explosive devices the bombers used in attempting to topple down Tower No. 63 of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) in Barangay Pagangan went off, causing only minor damage to the structure.

The suspects reportedly strapped a bomb to each of the four columns of the tower, wired parallel to each other for a simultaneous detonation from a distance using a mobile phone.

More than a dozen NGCP towers, carrying high-tension cables connecting towns in Central Mindanao to hydroelectric plants in Lanao del Sur and in Bukidnon, have been toppled down by bombers in one attack after another in the past 12 months.

In statement Friday, the NGCP said workers will immediately fix the damaged tower in Barangay Pagangan.

The police director of North Cotabato, Senior Superintendent Alex Tagum, said investigators are still trying to establish the identities of the people behind the bungled bomb attack for them to be sued in court.