SPD: Scavenger, ‘dog error’ caused EDSA bomb scare

MANILA, Philippines - The man who threw a black plastic bag onto the roof of a passenger bus along EDSA, which caused a bomb scare, may have been a homeless scavenger, the Southern Police District (SPD) said yesterday.

“The bag only contained garbage. It could have been tossed by a scavenger,” SPD director Chief Superintendent Jose Erwin Villacorte said.

He also blamed the scare on a bomb-sniffing dog that indicated the bag may contain a bomb or bomb components. “It’s a dog error,” Villacorte told The STAR.

Initial reports said the Bataan bus was cruising through EDSA near its intersection with F.B. Harrison street in Pasay City when a bag  landed on the vehicle’s roof at around 5 p.m.

Bus driver Domingo Balloro stopped the vehicle and asked all his passengers to get off.

Villacorte said the identity of the man who threw the bag has yet to be established since there were no witnesses and the act was not caught by any of the closed-circuit television cameras installed in the area.

The incident caused a five-hour traffic jam as enforcers of the Metro Manila Development Authority had to block vehicular traffic on both lanes of EDSA and cordon off the bus.

Villacorte said the Pasay police’s bomb-sniffing dog sat twice as it inspected the bag.

The dog’s “misjudgment… practically triggered a bomb scare,” he said.

Pasay police chief Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Llorca said the bag contained cables and batteries – common bomb components – but no explosive.

Dog enthusiasts, however, lauded the dog for detecting common bomb components.

Villacorte said he has ordered all units in the SPD to reevaluate their bomb-sniffing dogs to ensure that they are still effective at detecting explosives.