City police director Leo Ajero said the TNT is a powerful explosive used to demolish old buildings and ships.
The police in North Cotabato has initially identified Commanders Mubarak and Bravo, two members of the lost command of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), as behind the latest bomb attack on the National Transmission Corp. (Transco) facility that caused a three-hour blackout.
Harry Bansiloy, chief security officer of Transco in Southwestern Mindanao, told the Catholic-ran radio station DXND that the group of Commander Mubarak is extorting them some P60 million in protection money.
Two weeks before the explosion, Bansiloy said they received phone calls from the group warning them that if the company still refuses to give the money, the bombings would spill over to other areas in Region 12, especially in the Cotabato area.
Transco, however, did not expect the bombing to take place in a secluded area here in Kidapawan, Bansiloy said.
The blasted structure number 38 of Transco’s 138-kilovolt transmission tower was situated in Barangay Nuangan, a remote village here.
“Nobody among the residents in the area was willing to give testimonies. Understandably, the incident took place around 2:15 a.m., where almost everyone was in his deep sleep,” said Ajero.
But he said they will continue investigating the incident even if no residents would come out.
Also, Ajero said extortion is only one of the many angles being carefully studied in this case. “We can’t discount the possibility there are other angles to this case,” he stressed.
The two improvised explosive devices were attached to a 60-meter electrical wire hanging at least 30 meters above the ground, he said, adding that the explosives were battery-operated.
The explosion resulted to a three-hour power blackout that started 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The electric cooperative that provides power to the entire province is now getting supply from Transco’s 69 KV transmission line in Tacurong City.