Another bomb scare hits Manila

MANILA, Philippines -  The Manila Police District (MPD) rerouted traffic and shops in the area suspended operations due to a bomb scare in Manila yesterday afternoon.

Members of the MPD’s explosives and ordnance division received a call at around 1:20 p.m. that a man on a bicycle left a backpack under a waiting shed at the corner of España Boulevard and Miguelin street.

Police officers cordoned off the area to keep onlookers back. The backpack turned out to contain used clothes. 

Several vendors in the area said they were alarmed because the cyclist “seemed to have deliberately placed the bag and hastily left the area, which was very unusual,” according to police.

Bomb scares recently affected some government offices. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) reported an unattended and still blinking car left for hours last May 26. The car turned out to have been left by an employee.

On the same day, a lunch box left by an elderly woman and her two children also caused a bomb scare along Padre Faura street, where the Supreme Court is located.

The next day, another car was left unattended at a condominium building along Bilibid Viejo street in Quiapo, causing another bomb scare. Police found out that the owner left his car to attend an out-of-town seminar.

Two explosions rocked Quiapo in late April and early May, killing two and hurting several others, including two cops.