Tuesday, October 17, 2006 Bomb hoax disrupts Capitol for almost an hour
A BOMB scare dis-ruapted work at the Cebu Provincial Capitol for nearly an hour yesterday afternoon.
An employee of the governor’s office found a suspicious-looking box covered with a baseball cap and placed at the back of a multicab owned by the Provincial Government.
Jaime Oliva said that about 2:45 p.m., he went out of the capitol building to drive the multicab and deliver two cakes to some barangay captains in Lapulapu City.
He was about to get on the driver’s seat of the multicab when he noticed a box covered by a red cap and placed at the open area behind the multicab.
The vehicle was parked in the area beside the governor’s office and a few meters from the governor’s service vehicle.
Oliva said he did not know who placed the box in the vehicle so he called the attention of the Capitol guards, who then alerted the Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) unit.
With news of bombings in Mindanao, one cannot help but be wary of suspicious-looking packages, Oliva said. Ten minutes after reporting the incident, a Swat team arrived and removed the box.
Reports reaching the Capitol later revealed that the box was filled with silver medals.
When the suspected bomb was discovered, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia was escorted by her security team to the Capitol social hall. She was joined by her father, former governor Pablo Garcia, and some mayors who were in her office.
At the same time, Capitol consultant on security Byron Garcia also checked his sister’s service vehicle.
About 3:25 p.m., Byron gave the go-signal for the governor to go back to her office.
In an interview, Byron said that although it was a false alarm, it showed a good response from the Capitol’s security guards and the police.
Despite the bomb scare, he said there are no changes in the security plans at the Capitol because it is standard operating procedure that any suspicious-looking package should be reported.
He said, though, that with the recent bombings in Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato provinces, he briefed the security team yesterday morning and reminded them that anything suspicious should be reported.
Byron said they are planning to conduct emergency drills for Capitol employees as well. (Malou Inocando–Tabar, Correspondent)
