Ateneo still safe despite bomb threat, kidnap

MANILA, Philippines - Ateneo de Manila University president Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin believes the Loyola campus remains safe for students despite a bomb threat on Wednesday and the kidnapping of a student last year.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday night after the campus was declared free of any explosive, Villarin said: “I’m proud of the way we conducted the evacuation.”

Police did not find any explosive after almost seven hours of searching all 62 buildings in the 68-hectare campus.

The threats were contained in text messages sent to three employees of the university. The text messages contained the exact same words, pointing to bombs supposedly planted somewhere in the campus.

The bombs would supposedly explode 30 minutes after the text messages were sent.

Quezon City police director Chief Superintendent Richard Albano said they were still investigating the source of the text messages, which all came from the same cell phone number.

Last year, armed men snatched a female student from a parking lot in the campus. The suspects demanded ransom from the student’s family but eventually released her.

Villarin told reporters they would institute tighter security measures after the bomb threat.

It would include random inspections on campus and the deployment of more security personnel, he added.