Abandoned bag at EDSA-Guadalupe bus station causes brief tension

MANILA, Philippines - An abandoned black bag on Friday afternoon caused a few minutes of tension at the northbound bus loading bay along EDSA in Guadalupe, Makati.

Chief Inspector Libreto Buisan of the Makati Police bomb disposal unit said the Makati Police Tactical Operations Center received a call about a suspicious looking bag abandoned at the bus loading bay at about 3:10 p.m.

Immediately, Buisan said a K-9 team and a team from the Makati Police Bomb Disposal Unit was sent to the scene to investigate.

As a safety precaution, the responding police teams closed one lane of the highway to traffic and cordoned it off.

Buisan said bomb sniffing dogs did not detect any trace of explosives in the bag which measures about 2 feet in length and about 2 feet in height.

When opened, Buisan said the bag contained women’s clothes, women’s undergarments and a mobile phone charger.

Buisan said the bag was most probably left accidentally by a commuter in a rush to catch a bus.

Buisan said the area was declared safe and the cordoned-off lane was re-opened to traffic some 30 minutes later. Buisan said the owner of the abandoned bag was later identified as Ester Caduada based on a Palawan Express Padala document found inside the bag.