Bureau of Immigration gets bomb scare

MANILA, Philippines - Employees and guests of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) were ordered to vacate the agency’s building in Intramuros, Manila after they received a bomb threat yesterday morning.

At around 8:50 a.m., a BI employee received a text message that reportedly said there would be a “Big Bang” at the bureau at 9 a.m.

BI-Civil Security Unit (CSU) head Alberto Braganza said police officers with two bomb-sniffing dogs searched the building, but “by 10:20 a.m., the police said they did not find any foreign object, nor bomb material.”

After being assured that the text message was a hoax, BI employees returned to work.

Braganza said they are still trying to find out who sent the message and why. He does not believe it would scare off foreigners from visiting the country since “this can happen anywhere.”