Court of Appeals, DOJ get bomb threats

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The Court of Appeals (CA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), located around the same area in the capital city, received bomb threats, which both turned out to be false alarms Wednesday, August 7.

At around 9:30 am, the CA security office got a call from a female who sounded like she was between 25 and 30 years old. The caller said a bomb would explode at the main building.

Security officers immediately told employees to vacate all 6 buildings within the CA compound.

The Manila Police District (MPD) bomb squad inspected the buildings; no bomb was recovered.

Employees were later asked to return to their offices.

CA Justice Remedios Salazar-Fernando said they didn’t take the threat lightly, considering the recent bombings in Mindanao.

By lunch time over at the DOJ, Fiscal Benito Sales received a text from his friend, warning him that a bomb was placed at the second level of the DOJ building.

Sales’ friend, Fiscal Niven Calapan, in turn got the information the Philippine National Police intelligence.

The office of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is at the second floor. She was at her office when the threat was relayed to her.

After receiving the message, Sales informed DOJ’s security office. Employees were advised to leave the premises.

As of posting, the MPD bomb squad was inspecting the area. – Rappler.com