Aquino detonates last batches of WW2 explosives from Caballo Island

President Benigno Aquino III remotely detonated in Tarlac province on Saturday morning the last batches of World War II ordnance recovered from Caballo Island at the entrance of Manila Bay. Aquino pressed the button triggering the explosion of the last two pallets of 287-pound Mk-6 depth charge explosive devices and two pallets of 190-lb Mk-9 depth charges, government-run dzRB radio reported. The sequential detonation, characterized by a flash of light, occurred past 10 a.m. Security teams checked and counter checked the blast site several times to prevent a premature detonation. Aquino stood at a platform 1.6 kilometers from the detonation site. United States ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas Jr. was among the witnesses of the event, the report said. The detonation event at Crow Valley Range in Capas town formally ended the last phase of the Joint Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Exercise headed by the Naval Special Operations Group. The last phase started last February 9, with EOD teams from the Army, Air Force, Philippine National Police, and Coast Guard detonating 4,146 pieces of various types of World War II ordnance. According to the Philippine Navy, the disposal is a collaboration between the US and Philippine governments. During his visit to the United States last September, Aquino discussed with US President Barack Obama the removal and disposal of leftover World War II naval ordnance from Caballo Island. The Navy said a domino-type explosion from the leftover WW II naval ordnance could have created a destructive blast lethal to humans within a 32-km radius. Also, it would have endangered nearby populated areas and ships plying Manila Bay and can be felt up to Sangley Point, Philippine Navy Headquarters, and the US Embassy. Caballo Island is a bluff, rocky island located at the entrance to Manila Bay in the Philippines. It is about 3/4 mile long with the highest elevation at 381 feet. It was formerly occupied by Fort Hughes, a US defense fortification before World War II. It was heavily bombed before and after the war. Along with the larger Corregidor Island, two km to the north, Caballo Island divides the entrance to the bay into two broad and deep channels, known as the North and South Channels. — LBG, GMA News