Club Intramuros safe, secure — WPD, PTA

It was an empty vintage grenade shell and not a live World War II hand grenade that was found Sunday within the premises of a golf course, the Western Police District (WPD) and the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) clarified.

WPD and PTA, in a joint statement, belied earlier reports claiming that the decades-old fragmentation hand grenade was still capable of exploding. They assured the public that Club Intramuros is safe and tightly secured.

According to WPD Public Information Office Chief Inspector Gerry Agunod, golfers and other patrons of Club Intramuros need not panic or worry because the incident was a "false alarm" and had nothing to do with any act of terrorism.

PTA General Manager Nixon Kua, for his part, said the discovery of the shell was a result of PTA’s stringent security measures being enforced at the golf course to ensure the utmost protection of clients and personnel.

"We assure the public that we have doubled our security efforts at Club Intramuros and other PTA entities around the country right after the terrorist attack in Bali recently," Kua said. "The safety of our patrons and employees are our foremost concern."

A PTA employee discovered the vintage grenade shell Sunday morning while cleaning and inspecting the club surroundings. The maintenance personnel noticed the grenade protruding from the ground and subsequently turned it over to elements of the WPD bomb squad.