Hoax “bomber” nabbed by SWAT

CEBU, Philippines - A man was arrested and detained after he reportedly tried to set off an improvised bomb in his boarding house in Barangay Parian yesterday morning.

Police seized from Jimboy Dela Cerna, 33, a box that was attached with a wire, suspected to be a bomb. The barangay tanods responded to the boarding house in T. Villa because of reports that Dela Cerna tried to set the house on fire.

Dela Cerna, alias Charlene, was reportedly mad at her landlady who kept on asking for his rental. Upon arrival at the area, the responding tanods saw the suspect carrying what appeared to be a bomb prompting them to call for police assistance.

Personnel of the Special Weapons and Tactics were immediately deployed and subsequently arrested the suspect. PO3 Juliver Suquib of Parian Police said the suspect allegedly had no intention to set off the improvised bomb.

“Pagpanghadlok ra daw ‘tong iyaha. Lagot lang daw siya sa iyang landlady kay di kapaabot sa bayad,” said Suquib.

Suquib said they will also check if the device really had an explosive content. As of 5 pm yesterday, the suspect was already released after this landlady and his boardmates expressed no intension to press charges. — (FREEMAN)