Blackouts hit Mindanao provinces

MANILA, Philippines — Power outages hit areas in northwestern Mindanao after unidentified men sabotaged the power lines of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) yesterday.

The NGCP said the blackouts occurred at 8:30 a.m. after the Agus 5-Aurora 138-kilovolt (kV) line tripped due to an explosion.

The power interruptions affected consumers in Zamboanga del Sur, Misamis Occidental, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga City and Lanao del Norte.

“The NGCP is working to restore the line as investigation on the cause of the outage continues,” the grid operator said.

The blackouts came a day after the Balo-i-Aurora 138-kV line, which also supplies power in northwestern Mindanao, tripped on Monday due to an attack on an electric tower.

“With the tripping of the Agus 5-Aurora line, both lines serving northwestern Mindanao areas are out,” the NGCP said.

“Restoration of Tower 60 will commence as soon as the area is secured,” it added.

The NGCP appealed to the government and the community to help identify the perpetrators who caused the power interruptions.