Bomb detonation today in Toledo City

CEBU, Philippines - All 28 of 29 vintage bombs unearthed at the South Road Properties will be detonated in Toledo City today.

The first bomb was already detonated last week to test the area and the explosive devices they will be using.

Today, the Explosives Ordnance Disposal unit will also include in the disposal the 1,000-pound, 40-feet vintage bomb found last year at the Asiatown I.T. Park. The bomb has been with The Armed Forces of the Philippines Central Command for months but they were not able to detonate it due to the lack of C4 explosives.

Philip Zafra, chief of staff of Mayor Michael Rama, said they will transport the bombs via cargo trucks at 4 o’clock this morning.

They will take it to Carmen Copper Corporation’s Biga Pit, a former mining site that has been exhausted and now used only as dump site for the mine’s tailings.

They have to be early to set up the area. The actual detonation will be at 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Eight 3x6 pits were prepared where the bombs will be placed.

The plan is not to simultaneously detonate the bombs but to detonate them in three batches with one-minute interval.

The City sent its Geographic Information System personnel to check the area one more time if it is far enough from residential areas and safe for the neighboring communities.

Zafra said that there is an AFP communications antenna nearby but the geodetic engineer of Carmen Copper Corp assured it will not be affected.

The 125 C4 explosives requested by the City Government arrived yesterday and are now at the 7th Forwarding Army Service Support Unit located at Pier 2. The cost of the C4 explosives, which is P1.7 million, is shouldered by the AFP.

The 29 vintage bombs were discovered by the construction workers building a retaining wall for the White Sand Beach Resort project of the City Government.

The City Government wants the area surveyed for more bombs after they heard that the area used to be a garrison or an army base during the Spanish occupation.  (FREEMAN)