Probers: Most bomb scares happen during exam week

MANILA, Philippines - Seven out of 10 bomb scares that rocked the city of Manila this year came from universities and colleges during the exam week, investigators said yesterday.

The Manila Police District (MPD) bomb squad revealed this after a bomb scare disrupted the preliminary exams week of Far Eastern University (FEU) on Thursday morning.

MPD bomb squad chief Inspector Arnold Santos told The STAR that he received 10 reports from January to July. Seven out of them came from universities – the latest of which came from FEU and University of Santo Tomas on Wednesday morning.

“I noticed that most of the bomb scares happened during exam week,” he said.

“There was a bomb scare at (De La Salle - College of Saint) Benilde… also during exam week. Their schedule is trimestral,” he added.

Santos blamed “naughty students” for the bomb scares, which forces schools to suspend classes to allow the bomb squad to check the whole building and sometimes the whole school compound.

Like two weeks ago, grenades – which turned out to be duds – were lobbed in front of a building along Taft Avenue. 

In an earlier interview, Santos said students unprepared for the exam or those who failed to pay the tuition were behind the pranks.