Rizal school cancels events due to bomb threat

MANILA, Philippines - A bomb threat yesterday prompted the management of San Beda College in Rizal to cancel all activities, including the recognition day for elementary students.

Senior Superintendent Rolando Anduyan, Rizal police director, dispatched a bomb disposal team and the Taytay police to the school after an employee received the bomb threat at around 6:30 a.m. yesterday.

Anduyan said the bomb squad, aided by bomb-sniffing dogs, however, failed to find any bomb or any type of explosive.

According to Anduyan, the school was declared safe at 9:05 a.m. with no untoward incident.

Shirley Rubio, whose son John Caleb is a student at the school, said the management cancelled examinations and other activities scheduled for the day despite the certification of the police bomb squad.

“Initial findings report that there is no sign or existence of a bomb nor traces similar to it. The campus is clear of any explosive material,” said the school management in a text message to parents. School activities will resume normally today, it added.

Rubio said parents of Grade 1 to 6 pupils who received an invitation for yesterday’s recognition day were advised that the activity was reset to March 25.

A bomb scare also rattled employees of the Lipa City government and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) satellite office in Batangas yesterday morning.

The bomb threat was relayed in a text message sent to the police. Ordnance experts, however, found no explosives after combing the city hall and NBI compound. – Non Alquitran, Arnell Ozaeta