Bomb threat disrupts classes at Ateneo

MANILA, Philippines - Classes and work at the Loyola campus of the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City were suspended yesterday morning following a bomb threat sent through text messages.

Inspector Noel Sublay, head of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD)’s Explosives and Ordnance Division, said the threat came in through text messages received by three school employees.

“May mga bomba na sasabog sa Ateneo. Paniguradong madaming estudyante at empleyado ang mamamatay. Thirty minuto mula ngayon (Bombs would explode in Ateneo. Surely many students and exployees would die. Thirty minutes from now),” read the text messages received by the employees.

Classes were cancelled and students and employees were evacuated at around 10 a.m. The first bomb threat was received at 9:24 a.m.

At past 4 p.m., after some seven hours, Metro Manila police head Director Carmelo Valmoria said they scoured all 62 buildings in the 68-hectare campus and found no explosive device.

Valmoria emerged from the campus with QCPD director Chief Superintendent Richard Albano and declared the campus safe.

Ateneo president Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin told a press conference yesterday afternoon that classes would resume today.

“With the police authorities, we are now following some leads. Please expect tighter security measures after this incident,” he said.

Villarin said more security guards would be deployed and random inspections would be conducted on campus.

“It’s a huge campus, that’s why it took us several hours to make sure there was no explosive device,” Albano said.

Albano said a staff member at the office of the university president received the first text message at 9:24 a.m.

He said the second message followed two minutes later and was received by an employee at the Office of External Affairs.

Another employee received the third message at 9:29 a.m.

Albano said all three messages came from the same cell phone number 0920-6069734.

He said they tried contacting the number but the line had apparently been cut off.

Some 20,000 students and employees were sent home at around 9:30 a.m., causing heavy traffic along Katipunan Avenue and adjacent roads.

Valmoria said their investigation was ongoing to trace the source of the bomb scare.