Cops find bananas, not bomb, at Crame

MANILA, Philippines - Police bomb experts found unripe bananas, not a bomb, in a cardboard box abandoned at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame in Quezon City Tuesday night.

Senior Superintendent Joel Pagdilao, chief of staff of the PNP Headquarters Support Service (HSS), said the package was discovered at around 5:30 p.m. in front of the Veterans Bank, a few steps from Gate 2 of Camp Crame.

Police first cordoned off the stretch of Boni Serrano Avenue from EDSA to 1st Avenue, causing a traffic jam in the area. More than 100 kibitzers and policemen in physical fitness attire milled around the cordoned area.

An hour after the package was discovered, a bomb disposal agent put at least nine sandbags around the package. Bomb experts tried twice to view the box’s contents using a remote x-ray machine, but failed.

PNP Bomb Data Center tried to get a bomb-sniffing dog in Camp Crame, but there was none. It was only at 8:30 p.m. when a trained dog from the Quezon City Police District arrived, and confirmed that the package did not contain a bomb. Kibitzers cheered as bomb agents opened the box and found the bananas.

“We are happy that everything was OK. Perhaps somebody could have forgotten and left the package,” Pagdilao told reporters after clearing the area.

He said they followed proper procedure in dealing with a suspected bomb since commercial establishments are just outside Gate 2.