Abante office gets bomb threats

Employees and staff members of Abante, the tabloid, panicked yesterday afternoon after they received a bomb threat from an unidentified male telephone caller.

Police reports said the call was made at about 3:09 p.m. by a man with a "husky" voice.

The call, received by the Abante office at the third floor of the BF Condominium Building at Solana St. in Intramuros, said a bomb that could blow-up the entire building had been planted.

After receiving the call, employees and staff members of the tabloid’s editorial and administration divisions rushed down to the street.

Responding operatives from the Western Police District’s Explosives and Ordnance Division arrived some 50 minutes later and began a thorough check of the building. Fortunately no explosive device was found.

Earlier in the day, WPD-EOD personnel recovered a rusty old grenade at the corner of P. Burgos St. and Roxas Boulevard.

WPD acting director Senior Superintendent Nicolas Pasinos said the grenade was discovered by a newsboy at about 4:45 a.m. in the gutter. He added, it was most probably a "training grenade."

Pasinos said the grenade, a MK-2, had no firing pin, no safety lever and no explosive inside.

Pasinos was also quick to add there is no need to further investigate the incident as he sees no connection to a possible terrorist plot involving a "practice" grenade.

Last December, an explosion rocked Plaza Ferguson along Roxas Boulevard facing the United States Embassy. The explosion which was caused by a bomb coincided with another strong explosion at the Blumentritt station of the Light Railway Transit that left 14 persons dead and at least 100 people wounded.