EDITORIAL - Wrong message about bomb threats

Last Thursday, bomb threats sent via text messages to officials and employees at the Cebu City Hall caused a massive scare and disrupted work at the seat of the city government. Media savvy from a prior stint as a journalist, Cebu City councilor Dave Tumulak quickly recognized what was happening and swung into action swifter than most everybody else.

And before anybody could even spell bomb threat, Tumulak had by Friday a suspect, which of course he would not or could not name. After all, he was as he said still “collating” more information about the person. All that Tumulak would say about his suspect was that he was a former City Hall employee who had been sacked. It could not have been more cryptic than that.

Oh, Tumulak did say one other thing –that he is not recommending charges against his suspect, which is strange considering that one cannot even say the word “bomb” in a public place without committing a crime. Say “bomb” in a plane and that plane is required to make an emergency landing at the nearest airport. Say “bomb” before boarding a plane and that plane is emptied of all passengers and cargo and thoroughly checked.

Several people not too long ago have been arrested right here in Cebu City when they joked about having a “bomb” just as they were checked by security prior to entering malls. In other words, if even a mere joke about a “bomb” can spell really serious trouble for a person, how much more if he makes an actual threat at no less than a seat of government packed with hundreds, if not thousands, of people?

And yet here we have a ranking Cebu City official, who ironically was first to the draw in investigating what happened without anybody ordering him to do so, now saying he is not going to press charges against the suspect, now that he has a suspect. If Tumulak had no intention of pressing charges against his suspect, why did he have to go through all the trouble investigating the incident?

If a “bomb” joke or “bomb” threat is a crime, what happens to a government official who knowingly turns the other cheek on its commission? Since Tumulak went to investigate the matter, isn’t he obligated to pursue the matter to its just conclusion? It would have been different if, after the incident, everybody just took it in stride and forgot about it. But a councilor took the initiative to investigate. In so doing he raised the expectation of the public. And now he is dropping it? WT!