Banana bunch mistaken for ‘bomb stash’

By: Jennifer P. Rendon 

A suspicious package that was spotted at a busy street in Pototan, Iloilo evening of Dec. 16, 2019 turned out to be banana tiers or hands (sipi).

The event sent authorities on their toes as the discovery coincided with the formal opening of Pototan’s Iwag Festival (Festival of Lights), the town’s annual display of lights that transforms the plaza into a Christmas village.

But the festive occasion was temporarily marred after a “concerned citizen” around 6:30 p.m.

Police Major Ronnie Brillo, Pototan police chief, said, they immediately cordoned Teresa Magbanua Street where the backpack was left.

A responding policeman checked the bag without opening it.

“When he touched, it felt hard,” Brillo said.

They called bomb experts to check the package.

But before the police bomb experts arrived, a member of the Philippine Army offered to inspect the backpack.

Voila!

“No bomb or parts of an improvised explosive devise of was found. Instead, we found four banana tiers inside the backpack,” Brillo said.

Authorities did not discount the possibility that the package might be an IED or improvised explosive device because two men were seen intentionally placing the package on the roadside.

Before placing the backpack, “they try to act suspicious. They looked around before leaving the bag,” Brillo said.

A footage from a closed circuit television (CCTV) of a nearby store showed that the two men stayed and scanned the area.

“They really played their part of acting suspicious,” Brillo said.

As this developed, authorities are considering several motives behind the incident.

“Maybe, they just want to scare people. But for what purpose, we can’t ascertain for now,” he said.

It could also be a ploy for criminals to divert the attention of authorities.

For the festival, Brillo said they deployed around 940 policemen and force multipliers.

“It might be overkill but it’s better safe than sorry,” he said.

Brillo did not comment if the incident could be linked to the New People’s Army (NPA).

It was in September 2018 when reports cropped up that NPA members allegedly planned to bomb two towns in Iloilo.

During an armed encounter between authorities and rebels on Sept. 8, 2018, IEDs and materials for making IEDs were recovered at the encounter site.

The plan was linked to the bomb threat at Lambunao National High School in Poblacion Ilawod, Lambunao, Iloilo on August 28, 2018.

During the incident, a package, which turned out to be a hoax bomb device, was found at the female comfort room.

Military personnel is not discounting that the NPAs have something to do with the planting of the hoax bomb.