Bomb scare hits stock exchange

A bomb scare prompted police yesterday to cordon off an area at the busy Tektite Building, which houses the Philippine Stock Exchange and other business establishments, in Pasig City.

Bomb experts from the Eastern Police District worked quietly to check what was inside a plastic bag left at the building’s west exit to avoid causing a panic. The operation lasted only for 20 minutes.

It turned out the bag contained only two Motorola two-way radio T-5500 units and a charger tightly wrapped in a black packing tape.

A security guard noticed the plastic bag unattended at the west exit of the building at around 4:30 p.m. and immediately notified the police.

"There was no evacuation, but some passersby milled around the cordoned area to take a look at what we were doing," one of the responding bomb experts said.

"We theorized that there was an attempt to sneak the radios and charger out of the building but the culprit sensed that he would get caught so he dropped the items at the exit gate," an investigator who declined to be named said. Tektite Building is at the corner of Pearl Drive and Exchange Road. – Non Alquitran, Cecille Suerte Felipe