Cebu bomb scare prompts raid

CEBU — A text message to the Minglanilla police station warning that someone was planning to set off a bomb during the town’s "Sugat sa Pagkabanhaw" celebration on Easter Sunday prompted policemen to conduct a raid on two houses earlier believed to be where explosives are manufactured.

Minglanilla police chief Ricardo Diola ordered his men to investigate and identify the source of the threat, and to conduct searches in places known to be making explosives.

Navales obtained a search warrant from Regional Trial Court Judge Fortunato de Gracia and raided the houses of Francisca Cabaluna, 65, and that of her son, Ramil, both in Barangay Tulay on Saturday.

Recovered from Francisca’s house were 50 pieces of blasting caps, 18 packs of ammonium nitrates — each weighing one kilo — and two more packs of orange-color powder also believed to be explosives.

Seized from Ramil’s house was a bottle containing a granular substance — believed to be ammonium nitrate mixed with sand — with a blasting cord attached to it.

The two are presently detained at the Minglanilla police stockade and will be charged for violation of Republic Act 8294, or the firearms and explosives law. – Rene Borromeo/Freeman News Service