Cebu IT Park halts extraction of vintage bomb

The extraction of the vintage bomb that was found in a construction site at the Cebu IT Park in Barangay Apas, Cebu City has been called off.

Apas Barangay Captain Ramil Ayuman said he was informed by officials of Cebu Holdings Inc. (CHI), which manages the IT Park, that the extraction scheduled from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. of Tuesday, December 19, was postponed for still unclear reasons.

But a memorandum issued by the Cebu IT Park Administrator Jennifer Paglinawan prior to the decision to postpone the extraction called for the emergency evacuation of occupants in at least seven buildings in the area, stressing that “the public, within a 1-kilometer radius is advised to be on heightened alert while the ordnance is being extracted.”

Paglinawan’s memo was addressed to the building administrators, property managers, admin office or staff and construction in-charge of all locators in the IT Park. The memo was dated December 18.

Based on the memo, residents and workers in seven IT Park buildings were asked to clear their premises during the supposed scheduled extraction.

These buildings are Teleperformance, Skyrise 1 and 2, CJRS, Ebloc Tower 1, Ebloc Tower 4, Avida Towers Riala, and Avida Towers Cebu.

Paglinawan had said that the site where the vintage bomb was found was placed in the custody of the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (DRRMC) and that “authorities including (the Armed Forces of the Philippines) Central Command, Philippine National Police.

Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit and SWAT” were “working together for the proper disposal of the ordnance.”

Attached to the memo was a photo of a US-owned World War II GP Bomb, which was described to be weighing about a thousand pounds that has a diameter of one feet and 6.8 inches (47.8 cm) and a length of 5 feet and 6.9 inches (170 cm).

However, Ayuman said the IT Park management opted to delay the extraction amid concerns over the safety of the occupants of buildings near the construction site where the bomb was found.

“The extraction of the bomb will not push through. We will be having a meeting with Cebu Holdings and other agencies concerned tomorrow (December 19) at 9 am to finalize things,” Ayuman told Cebu Daily News past 10 p.m. on Monday.

A copy of IT Park management memo was posted on Facebook on Monday evening and it immediately went viral, as employees in IT Park and other residents near the area expressed concern over the supposed danger posed by the extraction.

Ayuman said he first knew of the memo when an employee in the IT Park gave him a copy and asked if the barangay knew of it.

Ayuman said they were not informed about it. But after he posted this observation on his Facebook account, Ayuman said he was contacted by an official from CHI.

He was told that CHI has been coordinating with Cebu City Hall officials.

“We are thankful that the barangay is now being coordinated. Aside from the locators in IT Park, the extraction could also affect our residents in Barangay Apas,” Ayuman said.