BOMB SCARE: Tension grips Makati bank building

Are bomb sniffing dogs effective in detecting bombs?

Security turned upside down yesterday at the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) Plaza building in Makati City when in-house bomb sniffing canines smelled something unusual and refused to let go of an Arab embassy staff car.

Adding tension was the refusal of the driver of the vehicle, who was alone when his vehicle was stopped at the entrance of the building, to let guards inspect his car.

Bomb and explosives police experts who were summoned to the scene were also forced to withdraw to a safe distance due to the behavior of the bomb sniffing dogs.

American security consultants of the establishment, were also alarmed over the behavior of their in-house canines.

They called for police assistance from the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) which immediately dispatched their own bomb sniffing canines.

Tension which started at about 9:30 a.m. only subsided before noon yesterday when it was finally discovered that the vehicle, whose details police refused to give, belonged to the Egyptian Embassy.

"Apparently the driver was quite arrogant with the guards, as he refused to have his car inspected while trying to enter the parking area of the establishment," a source said.

After everything was cleared, the behavior of the in-house bomb sniffing dogs, became a butt of jokes among law enforcers and security personnel of the building.

‘Siguro may naamoy na parang bomba sa loob ng sasakyan, (Maybe they smelled something similar to a bomb inside the car)," a police source said.

Relatedly, three home-made bombs were recovered by police planted on the second floor of one of the buildings of the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan.

San Juan police chief, Superintendent Rodrigo de Gracia said the homemade explosive was discovered in the hospital’s Medical Arts Building I.

De Gracia described the bomb as triangular and 9" x 6.5" in size.

Had it been detonated, De Garcia said, the bomb would have produced shattering effects and could probably cause casualties in adjacent clinics with pediatric patients.

The bomb was defused by responding police explosive experts.