MANILA, Philippines — The Manila Police District and the security office of the University of Santo Tomas said the report of a bomb threat inside the campus was found to be negative.
A text message from an unknown sender, which circulated on social media Wednesday morning, claimed that a bomb was supposed to go off at noon, a day after Mapua University in Manila suspended classes and office work due to a bomb threat.
CRACKDOWN ALERT!
— Anakbayan - UST #EndStateFascism (@AnakbayanUST) September 19, 2018
ANAKBAYAN-UST denounces this desperate attempt by the state and Duterte's troll propaganda army to inflict an atmosphere of harassment and intimidation inside schools.
At around 8am TODAY, a bomb threat is circulating inside the university. pic.twitter.com/C5dc7tnMAF
The Manila Police District and UST's security office, however, found no explosive device after a search in the campus and declared the threat as a hoax.
“The initial information [on] bomb threat in UST was found negative after panelling by Explosives and Ordinance Division of MPD as of 11:20 am,” MPD spokesperson Carlo Magno Manuel was quoted in a GMA news report.
No suspension of classes was declared in the campus.
NPA denies hand
The New People’s Army, tagged in the bomb threats, has denied that it issued bomb scares to UST and Mapua.
The NPA, through the official Twitter account of the Communist Party of the Philippines, said it "vehemently denies issuing such cowardly threats."
"Bomb threats sent through text messages claimed that a bomb was planted by the NPA in Mapua University yesterday. A similar threat was received today in the Univerity of Santo Tomas. [T]he NPA furthermore clarifies that it does not engage in such acts which in any way threatens civilians," it said. — Philstar.com intern/Christian De Lano Deiparine