By Ronron
July 17, 2007
A tower of the National Transmission Corporation (Transco) in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato was bombed by unidentified suspects before dawn of Tuesday, police said.
Inspector Benjamin Mauricio, Jr., chief of the Investigation Section of the Kidapawan City Police, said the incident happened at around 2:15 am at the mountainous village of Nuangan, some 10 kilometers away from the city proper.
Mauricio said a pipe bomb, which was packed with TNT (trinitrotoluene), was used by the suspects believed to be members of an extortion group in the region. It was placed in the middle of the 72-feet high steel-made tower line.
“The blast was so powerful that it toppled the upper half of the tower, rendering it non-operational and affecting the power supply immediately in General Santos City and Davao City,” Mauricio said in a phone interview in the Cebuano vernacular.
Later in the afternoon, power supply in Kidapawan City was also cut off but Mauricio said they are not yet certain if it is an effect also of the tower bombing.
Mauricio said the local office of Transco has yet to apprise them of the estimated cost of damage on its tower.
“Those behind this incident could be extortionists who are believed to be responsible also for similar incidents in Lanao, Marawi City, and Iligan City,” he said.
The group allegedly has been demanding P60 million from Transco, otherwise, the tower will be bombed.
Mauricio said even if there is presence of the New People’s Army and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the area, it is unlikely that the groups will carry out the bombing./DMS
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