SWAT and EOD personnel with their K9 sniffing dog search the compound of Cebu City Health Department following a bomb threat posted on Facebook.
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA
A 43-year-old woman was held by the police for questioning following a false bomb alert that she allegedly posted on the official Facebook page of the Cebu City Health Office.
But the woman from Barangay Ermita, Cebu City, said it was her daughter (name withheld for being a minor), who used her Facebook account and did the bomb hoax.
“Wag kayo mag trabaho may bomba ang city health hahahah sasabog ito igka ugma sa buntag (Do not go to work, there’s a bomb in city health and it will explode tomorrow (Saturday) morning),” read the message which was received around Friday midnight.
The woman may be placed behind bars if proven guilty of the offense.
Police will be filing complaints against her for violating Presidential Decree 1727 or the Anti-Bomb Joke Law. Violators face five years in jail or a fine of P40,000 or both depending on the court’s ruling.
“Wala man gyuy moangkon mao nga ang tag-iya gyud sa Facebook so siya among gikuha, siya gyud among filan og kaso (Nobody owns up, that’s why we took her as the owner of the Facebook page, and will file a case against her),” said Senior Insp. Janelito Marquez, deputy station commander of Mabolo Police Station.
Marquez said the bomb hoax caused an alarm among the city health workers who called the police for assistance yesterday morning.
Marquez said they immediately sought the help of the Anti-Cybercrime Group of the Police Regional Office 7 (PRO-7) to help trace the message.
Operatives from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), Mabolo Police Station and PRO-7’s Regional Intelligence Unit rushed to the area and scoured the entire compound for more than three hours but no explosive was found. They also evacuated the workers to a safer ground during the inspection. /with a report from Morexette Marie B. Erram