Police probe hospital bomb scare

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines —Police are still clueless on the caller—behind Tuesday's bomb scare that sent patients and medical personnel out of a hospital building—who "warned" about an explosive device left inside the facility.

Senior Superintendent Felipe Rivera Natividad, director of the Bohol Police Provincial Office (BPPO), told The Freeman yesterday that they have asked assistance from the city government in order to unmask the identity of the caller.

Natividad hinted they would also tap the help of telco companies to trace the caller's location, adding that the police are also coordinating in the investigation with the management of the Borja Family Hospital in Tagbilaran City to review the CCTV cameras of the medical facility.

The management of Borja Family Hospital on Tuesday afternoon, September 19, scampered to evacuate their patients and medical staff after the hospital's information desk received a call from a Tagalog-speaking person warning of an alleged presence of explosive material inside the building.

The hospital management then notified authorities. Around 3:45 p.m., the building was already emptied of its occupants as bomb experts from Manila—who were deployed to Panglao, Bohol for an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit—were asked to scour the entire building.

Natividad declared the area safe and secure past 5 p.m. after the bomb experts found nothing unusual inside the hospital building. "We were not taking any chances. We considered the bomb threat serious until the place was cleared of any danger," he told media.

The police director ruled out the ongoing ASEAN meeting in Panglao as incidental to the bomb scare, the first in the city ever.

Meanwhile, sources have said they are suspecting the prank caller could be a disgruntled patient who has an ax to grind on the hospital management over their allegedly costly medical bill. (FREEMAN)