Batangas city: The Philippine National Police (PNP) has ordered a thorough investigation into the suspected act of sabotage of a major power transmission line in Batangas.

According to Philippines News Agency, the investigation was ordered after a vital conductor of the Ilijan-Tayabas 500-kilovolt transmission line was found severed by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP). "We have already mobilized specialized investigation and intelligence units to find out what really happened based on the request of the NGCP," PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said in a statement Thursday.

"My instruction is to finish the investigation in the soonest possible time and conduct operations against those responsible if indeed there was an act of sabotage involved," he added. In a letter addressed to Nartatez and Batangas City police chief Lt. Col. Lira Morello, the NGCP said the Ilijan-Tayabas line tripped at approximately 6:30 a.m. on May 13 after the conductor located between Towers 129 and 130 in Barangay Haligue Silangan, Batangas City got cut.

The sudden disruption heavily crippled the power supply of the country's main islands. The NGCP said the grid failure immediately aggravated thin generation reserves in Luzon and Visayas, which led to the declaration of consecutive red and yellow alerts in both power grids.

Nartatez said police officers are already working alongside local officials to look into the situation. He added that criminal investigators and forensic teams have already been deployed to the site to gather physical evidence. Security is also being tightened around other vital infrastructure nationwide to prevent similar disruptions.