Police identify suspects behind previous bomb scare at Hall of Justice

CEBU, Philippines —  Authorities have identified the suspects behind the bomb threat at the Cebu City Hall of Justice at the North Reclamation Area in Cebu City on March 9 of this year and appropriate charges were already filed.

Cebu City Police Office information officer, Lt. Colonel Maria Theresa Macatangay, said they have identified the two suspects behind the bomb threat at the Qimonda Building which houses the Cebu City Hall of Justice.

“For the information of everyone, nahibaw-an na sa atong Anti-Cybercrime Unit ang identities ani nga nagpaluyo aning nga malicious and samok nga mensahe didto sa proceedings didto sa Qimonda,” said Macatangay.

According to her, the suspects were identified through the investigation of the Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit who will also file the charges against them.

Macatangay said that this will be a stern warning and a “kind” reminder to those who are initiating bomb threats, that the authorities will eventually trace the origin of the threats and appropriate charges will be filed.

“So again atong giawhag ang tanan nga mo cooperate lang ta to ensure that our city is safe, our city is peaceful,” said Macatangay.

She, however, added that the perpetrators of the bomb threat at Qimonda Building and other three areas in Cebu City are not the same that the RACU-7 have filed the charges with.

“We cannot tell for now, but possible (have the same suspects),” said Macatangay.

Macatangay also said that the only intention they have found at that could be behind the bomb threat at Qimonda is just solely to create scandal and chaos in the building.

The CCPO is appealing to Cebuanos to be “responsible” enough in dealing threats after they found out that the text message containing the bomb threat on Thursday was passed to one person to another.

“Kung mosulod sa inyong mga group chat, sa inyong mga cellphones, we have to exercise a bit of caution, a bit of curiosity, na magpangutana sad ta ba na asa ni gikan, nganong gi-forward nimo ni nako, unsay intention nimo nganong gi-forward nimo,” said Macatangay.

According to her, this is important to remember since it might create unnecessary inconvenience to the employees and the entire city.

Last Thursday, a bomb scare again received at the Qimonda Building, Carbon Market, Cebu City Hall, and including the newly-opened Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway.

“Naay usa ka number, nag draft siyag usa ka message, gi screenshot, and then gi-share to different platforms, and different nga mga messaging nga mga platforms, and then ni viral,” said Macatangay.

According to Macatangay, everything was placed under control among the four areas that were mentioned and threatened at around 4 p.m. upon validation of the police.

“Immediately after that nag conduct og mga investigation, gi-attempt nato og trace asa ni gikan, unsa gyuy source ani nga mao nga information,”

During the response, the police have vacated the individuals from Qimonda Building as the bomb squad immediately checked the whole building.

The police then said that the message was a hoax.

Macatangay said that the incident wasn’t a good “joke” and appealed to the public to be responsible enough and refrain from staging such a similar incident.

Currently, Macatangay said they haven’t yet been able to identify the author of the bomb threat.

She however added that they are now in coordination with the ACU to determine who is behind the incident. — GMR (FREEMAN)