WWII bomb unearthed from USC compound

A 300-pound vintage “Drop Bomb”, of the World War II era, was dug up from a site inside the compound of the University of San Carlos-main campus yesterday afternoon.

The bomb, an American type used by the United States Armed Forces of the Far East (USAFFE) against the Japanese Imperial Army, was found more than four feet under the ground.

A backhoe came upon it while excavating the site for substructure works for the construction of the Law and Business Courses building of the university.

The bomb, military experts said, contained 300 pounds of the explosive compound trinitrotoluene (commonly known as TNT). They said that this type of bomb, and its larger version, were usually dropped from a bomber aircraft on buildings, concrete bunkers and massed enemy troops.

Members of the Special Weapons and Tactics team of the Cebu City Police Office were immediately called in after the workers saw the object, nearly four feet long and about one-and-a-half-foot in diameter, emerged among the bulk of soil that the backhoe had scooped.

Explosives and ordnance specialist, PO3 Danilo Rosales of the SWAT team, told the people at the site that the bomb, although it appeared old and thickly coated with rust, was a live one capable of exploding.

Rosales told The Freeman that nobody could determine yet whether the bomb would explode or not, but, by its looks, it still has the explosive power enough to kill and knock buildings because its body is still intact.

The bomb no longer has its tail fin stabilizer. Its safety pin and fuse that are usually found at the tip of the nose cone were already covered with rust.

Because of the bomb’s big size and weight, police and workers lifted it from the ground using a rope tied to a crane, then loaded it to the back of a pickup truck.

SPO1 Renante Nioda, a SWAT team member, said they would bring the bomb to a safe area in the mountains either to defuse or blow it.

The USC site, according to some historical accounts, was once used by Japanese soldiers as their garrison during their three-year occupation of Cebu.

The bomb was believed to be dropped on the Japanese soldiers during the liberation days of WWII but, for unknown reason, it did not explode upon hitting the ground.  — Edwin Ian Melecio/RAE