Crepe paper ‘dynamite’ causes high school evacuation

MANILA, Philippines - Hundreds of students from Rizal High School in Pasig City were evacuated yesterday following the discovery of a fake incendiary explosive device (IED) in one of the school’s restrooms.

A janitor found the fake bomb at past 9 a.m. It had a mobile phone and a timer attached to a stick of dynamite, made of crepe paper.

“It was used to frighten somebody,” a technician from the Pasig police’s explosives and ordnance division said, adding that whoever assembled the fake bomb may have gotten the idea from Youtube.

Police officers, using bomb-sniffing dogs, searched the rest of the school for IEDs but found none. The bomb experts declared the school safe some hours later but the school principal canceled classes for the rest of day.

The prank followed two bomb scares in Makati City – a toolbox left behind at the corner of Paseo de Roxas and Makati Avenues on Monday and an IED found at the parking lot of the ABC Mall along EDSA in Guadalupe Friday night.

Philippine National Police spokesman Chief Superintendent Wilben Mayor said yesterday the recent bomb threats “are isolated incidents.”

He did not directly answer questions on whether the bomb threats were connected to the alleged destabilization plot against the government. “Continuous monitoring and investigation are being done by our intelligence units to identify those persons responsible,” Mayor said.

He called on those with information on the perpetrators to call PNP hotline 117 or send a text message to 0917-8475757. – Non Alquitran, Cecille Suerte Felipe