Police investigators have identity of bomb threat sender

CEBU, Philippines - Police investigators have already identified the sender of the prank text message that caused a five-hour delay on the flight of Singapore-bound Silk Air last Tuesday afternoon at the Mactan Cebu International Airport.

Sr. Supt. Melvin Ramon Buenafe, chief of Regional Intelligence Division of Police Regional Office-7, said the alleged prankster is a professional working for a private company.

But he said they are still withholding the name of the suspect because an investigation is still on going. The said person is not staying in Cebu anymore but he is still in Central Visayas, he added.

Buenafe said that the said man was the one who sent the prank text message that spoke of a bomb threat.

In fact, the PRO-7 official said their investigation revealed that the person who owned the number was at an uptown mall in Cebu City when the text message was sent.

Buenafe said the prankster is now using a different SIM (subscriber identity module) card but added they cannot easily pin him down as they have to do further investigation.

He said that right after the incident, the police were able to immediately locate the source of the prank text message. In fact, PRO-7 officials have met already with the owner of the cell phone who forwarded the text message to the airport officials and asked about the incident.

If proven that he was the one who really forwarded the text message, Buenafe said the pranskter can be prosecuted for malicious mischief. The police will file a case in court, which will then issue a warrant of arrest against the suspect.

It was reported earlier that 127 passengers and six crew of Silk Air flight 541 were asked to disembark after MCIA general manager Danilo Francia received a bomb threat via text message at 1:17 p.m. The plane was scheduled to take off at 1:45 p.m.

Asking the people inside the plane to disembark, according to Francia, is a standard procedure during bomb threats. — Niña G. Sumacot/WAB   (THE FREEMAN)