TWO major universities in Cebu City suspended their classes on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, after receiving bomb threats via social media.
The first to receive the threat was the Cebu Technological University on M.J. Cuenco Ave., where a person named John Steve posted on its Facebook page, warning that a bomb planted on campus would explode within five hours.
The post even included a picture of C4 explosives with a cellphone, prompting university officials to immediately contact the police.
Members of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit, along with their K9 unit, responded swiftly. They evacuated all students and conducted a thorough inspection of the campus.
The university also declared a suspension of classes to prevent panic among students. After the inspection, it was confirmed that there was no bomb on campus.
A few hours later, a similar bomb threat was received by the Cebu Institute of Technology University on N. Bacalso Ave., which was also found to be false.
Lt. Col. Maria Theresa Macatangay, the information officer and current deputy city director for operations of the Cebu City Police Office, confirmed that no bombs were found at either university.
However, she emphasized that authorities should take all bomb threats seriously and investigate them thoroughly, even if they suspect the threats may be hoaxes.
An investigation is underway to determine who spread the bomb threats. Some students from CTU were questioned to see if they knew who John Steve, the person behind the post, might be.
“We’re just asking if they recognize that particular profile,” said Macatangay. Macatangay admitted that identifying the person responsible for the bomb threat is challenging, but she revealed that whoever is caught will face severe punishment, as there are laws prohibiting bomb hoaxes.
In September and August, two campuses of the University of Cebu also received bomb threats via social media with photos of the alleged bomb.
These were later confirmed to be hoaxes, but classes were already suspended.
Upon investigation, police discovered the bomb threats had been posted from a dummy Facebook account.
Authorities have since referred both cases to the Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit (Racu) 7 for further verification of the account.
Up to this posting, Racu 7 has released no update in their digital forensic examinations.