FILE PHOTO: Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla orders the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct a thorough investigation on several bomb threats that hit various national government agencies and local government units on Monday, February 12, 2024. Photo from DOJ’s Facebook page / Boying Remulla
MANILA, Philippines — The several bomb threats that hit various national government agencies and local government units on Monday must be investigated.
This was the order issued by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to the National Bureau of Investigation in light of Monday’s bomb threats .
“There should be no place for pranks or spreading fear among our people,” Remulla said in a statement.
“Let this be a warning to those behind this that we will not tolerate such acts and we will go after you with the full extent of the law,” the head of the Department of Justice added.
READ: Bomb threats strike various gov’t agencies, LGUs on Feb 12
Early on Monday, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) central office was gripped by a bomb scare which resulted in the early stoppage of its operations.
The DENR disclosed that the Explosive Ordinance Division (EOD) of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) is investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.
“As of now, our employees have already gone home,” it said in a message to reporters.
READ: Bomb threat hits DENR central office
QCPD said in a statement that its EOD team responded to the DENR central office, which is located along Visayas Avenue in Quezon City, as early as 8:55 a.m.
“Upon conducting paneling operations and thorough inspections, the results yielded negative and no signs of any bombs or any Improvised Explosive Device was found thereat,” QCPD revealed.
Authorities said the bomb threats were sent via email, which was signed by a certain Takahiro Karasawa, allegedly a Japanese lawyer and a “highly knowledgeable” bomb-maker.
In his email, Takahiro claimed that bombs would rock major government agencies in the country at 3:34 p.m. on Monday,
The same name was involved in seven bomb threats recorded on December 5, 2023, as well as the bomb threat on Metro Rail Transit 3 in September last year.
READ: PRO-7 releases safety tips against bomb threats