| Bomb threat thru text messages sent thousands of students in Digos home |
| Written by Eldie S. Aguirre | |
| Wednesday, 20 August 2008 | |
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Thousands of students from various schools here get out of their classrooms in the midst of classes on Wednesday when parents panicked over text messages that bombs will explode inside schools in the city.
Inspector Ferdinand Casiano, Davao del Sur Explosives and Ordnance Division (EOD) chief and at the same time deputy police director for operation in Digos City immediately went to Don Mariano Marcos Elementary School (DMMES) to conduct a thorough search for bomb or any explosive inside the rooms.
Rodrigo Zamora, the school principal said they could no longer stop parents to pull their respective children out of the school premises as they already panicked as others reported that a bomb had exploded.
Zamora said parents went panic after parents were informed that pupils from Digos Central Elementary School get out of the school premises due to bomb threat.
“Parents of our pupils also followed. We could no longer hold them for fear that it could be true,” Zamora said.
Casiano said they found no bombs or any kinds of explosives inside the classrooms.
DMMES has 2,300 grade school students and located just few meters from the city hall.
Pupils from Magsaysay Elementary School also went out of their classrooms before the afternoon break.
The principal of Digos City National High School (DCNHS) also sent more than 12 thousand students out of their classrooms as parents expressed alarm over reports that bombs could be inside the school.
Mayor Arsenio Latasa immediately ordered the police to search all schools in Digos City for possible bombs.
“It could just be a hoax but we could not ignore such information since it was the same scenario before Kolambugan in Lanao was attacked by rebels,” Latasa said.
The mayor said few days before the attack in Kolambugan the authorities were already informed about it but they just ignored until doom come to them. “We will not let it happen here,” Latasa said.
Latasa said he already requested barangay officials to delegate their Barangay Tanods boost the security of their respective schools.
The text message that sparked teachers and parents into panic says: “10 bombs ipaboto 2day sa city. 2mrw all schools wl b closed kay school ila target 2m. pls pass as much as possible dn’t let ur children go out 2 avoid casualties.”
Nobody could pinpoint the original sender of the said text message and the identity of the parent who received the said message that was forwarded and spread all over the city. |