Thursday, May 24, 2007 Hoax bomb threat disrupts work at Talisay City Hall
A PHONED-IN bomb threat that turned out to be a hoax disrupted operations yesterday at the Talisay City Hall.
Zoe Maria Bandilao, a job-order employee at the City Elections Office, received a phone call from an unidentified male caller around 11:30 a.m.
“Pagbantay-bantay mo diha kay nay bomba (Watch your step, there’s a bomb there),” Bandilao quoted the caller, who quickly put down the phone, as saying.
Bandilao said it sounded as though the prankster modified his voice.
Talisay City Election Officer Gallardo Escobar Jr. advised them to have the police record the incident, she added.
Word quickly spread about the threat, which prompted all government workers to rush outside the two-story building.
A local police team led by Supt. Romeo Perigo immediately reported to the scene after Bandilao and other election employees sought help at the nearby PNP detachment.
The detachment, which has detention cells for prisoners, is located at the basement of City Hall.
Lawmen then cordoned off the City Hall building upon the arrival of a bomb squad from the Cebu Provincial Police Office and a separate team from Philippine Drugs Enforcement Agency (PDEA) with specially trained dogs.
Authorities scoured the whole building for almost two hours and finally declared the edifice free from any explosives at 1:40 p.m.
Sun.Star learned, however, that most of the City Hall employees didn’t return for work in the afternoon, as they were reportedly advised by the City Human Resource Development Office to stay home instead.
“We were advised to go home or stay away from the building but the prisoners at the PNP detention cells were still detained,” a City Hall employee observed.
When sought for comment, Mayor Socrates Fernandez clarified he only advised all the employees to stay outside the building while lawmen were still looking for the bomb. He never told them to work only half a day. (GC)
