Soldiers fail AFP bomb drill

Soldiers assigned to the bomb disposal and K-9 units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines failed a surprise bomb drill in the AFP headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo yesterday.

AFP camp commander Brig. Gen. Ireneo Espino said the two units did not react quickly to reports that a suspicious-looking vehicle with explosives was parked at one of the gates.

“Their (Explosives and Ordnance Division or EOD) reaction was a little delayed. I told them it should not be that way… they need to run immediately using any available vehicle to see to it that they could address the situation,” Espino said.

He said only he, his operations officers and the commander of the military police battalion knew of the drill, which was meant to test the troops’ readiness should there be an attempt to breach the camp’s security.

Espino said that during the drill, a vehicle with C-4 – a type of plastic explosive – in its trunk passed through Gate 6 and was left by the driver. The guard on duty checked the vehicle after it had been parked and called the EOD to verify the presence of explosives using bomb-sniffing dogs.

He noted that the guard had to call the EOD several times before the division sent personnel and dogs. Ideally, the EOD should send a team within minutes after the first call, Espino said.

He stressed the need for camp security personnel to always be on alert to prevent a repeat of the incident at a military camp in Awang, Maguindanao, where terrorists were able to breach the facility and shot soldiers manning it.

“I don’t want it to happen here especially this is the seat of government, the seat of the AFP and the headquarters of the secretary of national defense and I don’t want that to happen here,” he said.

But he clarified that the drill was not conducted because of a security threat, but just to assure that the camp is secured all the time.

He said that such exercises would be conducted from time to time to ensure that all personnel are capable of responding to a situation that could endanger the lives of those inside the camp.