ICPO vows charges vs. pranksters behind bomb hoaxes

By Jennifer P. Rendon

How do law enforcers deal with a series of malicious and deceptive bomb threats?

One approach is to avoid giving pranksters the attention they want, the Iloilo City Police Office said.

“But hauling these pranksters to court could be even more effective,” Iloilo City police chief Colonel Kim Legada said.

Legada said there has been no major breakthrough yet in identifying those behind the successive hoax threats, but police units are now tracking the digital footprints of the senders.

He said ICPO is working with the PNP Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit 6 to get to the bottom of the prank messages.

He said investigators are considering various motives for the persistent bomb hoaxes.

“Maybe their main purpose is to amuse themselves by testing the capabilities of our law enforcers,” he said.

He added that others may be seeking attention or trying to ride on what appears to be a “trend.”

Legada said some threats may also be diversionary tactics intended to “redirect the concentration of our police force.”

“But whatever their intentions are, one thing is clear: what they’re doing is illegal. We would be filing criminal charges once we know who are behind these incidents,” he said.

Violators face charges under Presidential Decree 1727, which prohibits the malicious dissemination of false information or threats concerning bombs, explosives, or similar destructive devices.

Legada said the police organization has incurred losses in manpower and logistics responding to the hoaxes.

Meanwhile, the Iloilo City government has offered a PHP100,000 reward to anyone who can help identify the individuals behind the recent bomb threats that disrupted classes across the city.

New threats were sent to at least seven schools in Iloilo City and three in Iloilo province in less than 24 hours.

Around 8 p.m. on Nov. 16, a bomb threat was sent to Colegio de San Jose in Barangay Our Lady of Fatima in Jaro district.

Members of Iloilo City Police Station 9 and the ICPO Explosives Ordnance Division conducted a sweep of the school premises.

Personnel from RACU 6, led by Lieutenant Colonel Richard Adonis Habawel, also checked the Messenger account used by the sender.

No bomb was found.

By early morning of Nov. 17, Iloilo National High School in La Paz district also received a bomb threat.

The threat was sent through a local radio station.

The sender, identifying himself as “Nestor Villagracia,” claimed he planted bombs because of what he called “unfair treatment” by faculty toward regular and “special” students.

The same Facebook account also sent a hoax bomb threat to West Visayas State University’s main campus.

Iloilo Science and Technology University’s main campus and Hua Siong College of Iloilo also received threats.

Two campuses of St. Therese–MTC Colleges — La Fiesta Site and Magdalo Site — received threats Monday afternoon, prompting a suspension of in-person classes.

West Visayas State University–Calinog in Iloilo province also received a bomb threat Monday morning.

Guimbal National High School in Guimbal, Iloilo was likewise targeted.

Iloilo Merchant Marine School in Barangay Cabugao Sur, Pavia suspended classes and office operations after receiving a threat Monday afternoon.

Several schools also received hoax threats last week in both the city and the province.

Over three days, five threats were reported — four in Iloilo City and one in Iloilo province.

The latest incident prior to Monday involved a bomb threat at the SM Department Store at Delgado-Valeria Streets in Barangay Danao, City Proper.

Before that, ISAT-U’s main campus received a threat around 11 p.m. on Nov. 13.

ICPO’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Canine Unit swept the school and found no bomb.

Earlier the same day, ISAT-U had also received a hoax bomb threat.

Another threat was reported the morning of Nov. 12 at the University of San Agustin–Basic Education Department in Barangay Sambag in Jaro.

No explosive was found.

At 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 12, West Visayas State University–Janiuay in Barangay Locsin, Janiuay also received a bomb threat.