Bomb scare in Cebu City university: Student, 19, tagged, nabbed

Female freshman of the university behind bomb threat -- NBI

A 19-year-old girl, who was responsible for posting online last Monday, October 21, a bomb threat at the Cebu Technological University (CTU) main campus, has been arrested. | NBI-7 Photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines – A first year student of the Cebu Technological University (CTU) was identified as the perpetrator behind a bomb threat that disrupted classes at her own school in the middle of exam season last Monday, October 21.

The 19-year-old suspect identified as alias “Thea” was arrested by law enforcers at her residence a day after the incident.

Thea is a freshman studying Early Childhood Education at the CTU main campus. She previously enrolled under the Psychology program but withdrew after changing her mind.   

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Lawyer Renan Oliva, director of the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7), revealed that Thea was found to be behind the social media account under the name “John Steve” where the bomb threat was posted.

The viral post contained pictures of explosives with the following message:

“Hello Technologists!

BOMB SUCCESSFULLY PLANTED.

SAY GOODBYE, CTU MAIN! YOU HAVE APPROXIMATELY, 5

HOURS NALANG I HOPE THIS WILL BE A SUCCESS”

Due to this, teachers and students who were taking their midterm exam were promptly evacuated and classes were suspended. Law enforcers then conducted a sweep of the premises but no explosives were found.

After receiving a request from CTU, NBI launched an investigation and agents from the Cybercrime Division in Manila were dispatched to Cebu on the day of the incident.

How bomb scare culprit was caught

According to one of the agents, they discovered that the person behind the account was in Cebu after investigation and coordination with the service provider, Facebook.

Through Facebook’s response, they were able to retrieve the mobile number used to register the account and its corresponding IP address.

The agents then verified the number with other platforms and records at the university, which showed that the number was used by one of their enrollees for this semester. 

At around 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 22, a hot-pursuit operation was conducted and Thea was arrested at her residence in Brgy. Tawason, Mandaue City.

The operation was conducted by agents of the Cybercrime Division, NBI-7, and NBI Cebu District Office.

Oliva said that when operatives called the retrieved mobile number, a phone in the suspect’s possession rang.

He also said that Thea claimed that she was coerced to make the post by someone she only met online but do not know the full name of. 

She, however, could not substantiate her alibi during further investigation.

Lawyer Marvey Ocampo, dean of CTU Student Affairs and Services, told reporters that Thea claimed that it was not her intention to disrupt classes and the work of teachers. 

Thea allegedly said that she was doing well in her lessons and that she was looking forward to the exams. In fact, she took her midterm exam for the first subject on Monday after uploading the post at home. 

Ocampo described Thea as a withdrawn student who has no previous records of student violations at the university.

NBI-7 filed charges in violation of the Anti-Bomb Joke Law in relation to the Cybercrime Prevent Act of 2012 against Thea on Thursday, October 24.

The suspect, however, will be posting bail for P30,000, said Oliva. With this, she will avoid six months to one day of jail time.

CTU student discipline committee probe

Ocampo, for her part, said that an investigation would be conducted by the CTU student discipline committee to determine if Thea should be suspended or expelled for her actions, which also violated the student handbook.

To prevent incidents like this from happening again, Ocampo said that they would be strengthening student orientation and information campaign for students to understand the severity of the offense.   

Oliva further said that NBI-7 would also be investigating another bomb threat posted on Monday which affected the Cebu Institute of Technology University (CIT-U).

The NBI-7 director said that they were committed in apprehending individuals behind this type of act of disrupting society and endangering lives.

“This will serve as a warning to those who do this kind of criminal acts which threatens the safety and the lives of the citizens. (A) Bomb joke is not something you take lightly,” said Oliva.