Caloocan tightens security at justice hall after bomb scare

MANILA, Philippines - Security at the Caloocan City judicial building remained tight yesterday after an anonymous caller threatened to blow up the building Thursday.

Chief Inspector Rodrigo Soriano, Caloocan City police investigation chief, said though the threat was a hoax, authorities did not take it for granted because the caller was trying to convey a message.

“Though the threat turned out as a hoax, we could not ignore the fact that the caller wanted to convey a message because something happened, a police officer was killed,” Soriano told The STAR.

Soriano said city police chief Senior Superintendent Jude Santos is willing to provide more security to the justice building and to “concerned individuals” when court personnel think it necessary.

Security guard Hernane de Asis Jr. said yesterday that operations at the justice complex were normal but additional security personnel were tasked to secure its perimeter. He said they also conducted a stricter inspection of individuals and their belongings before they are allowed to enter the building.

De Asis said a police team now patrols the judicial building.

At around 8:10 a.m. Thursday, a man called and told the justice hall’s telephone operator that he would blow up the building after he criticized the local justice system and the city fiscals for the murder of a police officer.

No bomb was discovered during a subsequent search of the building.

Though the caller did not name the slain police officer, authorities said the only one killed in the area recently was Senior Police Officer 1 Manolo Caoili, who was gunned down on March 23 after accompanying a complainant in a frustrated murder case to a hearing at the office of fiscal Darwin Canete.

The Caloocan City police are looking at the Caoili couple’s ongoing land dispute with their relatives as a possible motive for murder.