Policemen surround the vicinity of a university in Brgy. Banilad, Cebu City which was a target of a bomb threat made by a netizen on August 13, 2024. CDN Digital photo | Paul Lauro
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Police in Cebu City have coordinated with different schools in the city and have instructed their security officers to be more strict with checking everyone who enters the campus following the bomb threat last Tuesday, August 13, 2024.
The alleged bomb threat disrupted classes at the University of Cebu Banilad campus on Tuesday morning after a social media user by the name of Shaleej Alejandra posted a message, claiming that explosives were hidden in the school and was set to detonate at 12:00 noon.
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After over two hours of careful assessment with the help of K9 dogs, police cleared the building as no signs of explosives were found.
The netizen, however, said that if he/she fails to carry out the plan by dressing up as one of the students in the said campus, a different school will be his/her target.
“If for some reason all schools within the motherland of cebu decides to suspend classes tomorrow, Until I am caught before I ever get to do the job, I will have all the time in the world,” added Alejandra in a post that has now been deleted.
While there is a possibility that there was no threat, police is still in coordination with UC and all other schools in Cebu City to make sure that no untoward incident will happen.
“We have also coordinated with all the security officers sa dili lang mao nga kana nga chain of schools but in all other eskwelahan, ma-elementary man, ma-highschool, or ma-colleges. Amo nang gi-coordinate sa ilang mga security officers to make their checking more stringent sa pagkakaron,” stated Police Lieutenant Colonel Janette Rafter, Deputy Director for Administration of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO).
Dummy account?
Rafter also disclosed that despite the original post being deleted, the Regional Anti-CyberCrime Unit in Central Visayas (RACU 7) continues to conduct an investigation to identify the person behind the account.
Furthermore, they are trying to find out if the social media page was a dummy account.
Rafter further relayed that the Women and Children’s Protection Desk (WCPD) has been conducting dialogues and information dissemination activities to help those with personal problems.
Alejandra, in the post, claimed that he/she was driven by hurt over personal problems and bad experiences.
Rafter urged the public, especially students, to let their emotions out in the comfort of people they trust or even their school counselors.
As of this writing, operatives are waiting for the results of RACU-7’s investigation.
Rafter further highlighted that making bomb jokes is a very serious crime that could lead to imprisonment if caught.