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Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Rebels attack Transco facilities in Sultan Kudarat
KIDAPAWAN CITY -- Suspected Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels fired rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) on a diesel-fed power plant of the National Transmission Corporation (Transco) in Sultan Kudarat town around 8 p.m. Monday.
The grenade attack caused a power blackout in Santa Maria village in Kalamansig and neighboring areas.
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Authorities led by Inspector Celestino Daniel, chief of the Kalamansig Philippine National Police (PNP), recovered three propellers of the RPG few meters away from Transco's facility.
Daniel is certain it was the MILF operating in the area that staged the attack.
"From the scraps that we recovered, we're certain it was the MILF that did the attack. The RPG is a signature weapon of the group," Daniel said.
He said the MILF group also tried to attack another Transco facility, a power barge in nearby Pag-asa village, also in Kalamansig. But the rebels missed its target.
"The attacks were simultaneous. The attacks resulted to power blackout since Monday night," he said.
Daniel hinted the attackers wanted to sabotage the economic activity in Kalamansig and nearby towns of Sultan Kudarat. "It's economic sabotage, there is no other reason," he said.
Colonel Gaudencio Pangilinan, chief of the Army's 1002nd Brigade, said the other incident was apparently led by a certain Tinte, who was onboard a pump boat.
Pangilinan said Tinte is a follower of Kumander Randy Karon. He though described the group as belonging to the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and not the MILF, as Kalamansig authorities have said.
Karon's group asked crude oil from the power barge a week ago. The following day, it asked for oil but was no longer granted.
On Monday morning, the MNLF group again requested for oil from the power barge, but was again turned down. It then threatened to sabotage the power barge, and the attack happened a few hours after.
Pangilinan said he already instructed members of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu) in the area to provide security in and on the vicinity of the power barge.
The attack came three days after armed men, onboard two pump boats, opened fire with assault rifles on cargo vessel m/v Iligan, when it was about to disembark at the Kalamansig wharf, Friday dawn.
The power blackout also affected the town of Lebak, some 20 kilometers southwest of Kalamansig, also in Sultan Kudarat.
Lebak Vice Mayor Joaquin Concha said they are convinced that the attackers who fired rockets at Transco's facilities belong to only one group.
"The attacks were perpetrated simultaneously. It appears that the attacks were coordinated," Concha said.
The attacks were preceded by the spate of recent toppling down of more than a dozen Transco's steel towers in Lanao, Saranggani, and other parts of south and central Mindanao, causing power blackouts in most parts of the island. (MCM/BOT/Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. (June 25, 2008 issue)
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