Report: Bomb threat grips CA office in Manila

(Updated 12:16 p.m.) Tension gripped the Court of Appeals (CA) office in Manila early Thursday morning, after a bomb threat was made known by a male caller shortly before office hours. CA security guard Abelardo Catbagan said the call came in at 6:45 a.m., with the male caller claiming a bomb was due to explode at the Appellate court’s docket section. “Sabi niya, may bomba sa docket office at sasabog anumang oras ngayon. Yun lang ang sinabi niya (The caller claimed there was a bomb at the docket office and may explode at any time. That was all he said)," Catbagan said on dzBB radio. He said the man even made sure he was calling the Court of Appeals. He said the call came in through the CA’s trunk line 524-12-41. Catbagan said he could not trace the number as his phone had no caller ID feature. “Hinahabol ko ng tanong: Anong kailangan nyo sir, ano kailangan nyo sir, ano kailangan nyo? Maya-maya ibinaba niya ang phone (I tried to keep him on the line by asking what he needed. He then hung up)," he said. The call prompted Catbagan to call 117. He was directed to the Manila Police District’s Station 5, which sent a bomb squad to the site. Employees at the CA were not allowed to enter the premises while the search was ongoing. However, Catbagan said CA presiding justice Andres Reyes rushed to the site after learning of the threat. Catbagan also said traffic was not disrupted during the search. Reyes, for his part, said he joined operatives from the MPD's bomb squad in scouring the CA's five buildings, which were cleared of any threats at about 8:30 a.m. "Nothing came out of it. Everything was negative," Reyes told reporters. However, he did not indicate what could have been the motive of the caller who made the threat. — with a report by Sophia Dedace/LBG, GMANews.TV