32 vintage bombs unearthed from Zamboanga City university construction site

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Thirty-two vintage bombs have been unearthed from one of the construction sites inside the Zamboanga City State Polytechnic University (ZCSPU).

The university was found to be a site of an old military camp during World War II.

Roy Valesco, a teacher at the university, said a bomb squad recovered 22 of the vintage bombs, on Friday (Aug. 17) at the site.

On Aug. 7, a total of 11 vintage bombs were dug out from separate sites within the construction area.

Valesco said the ZCSPU demolished the old high school building, known as the Zamboanga Schools of Arts and Trade, to put up a new one.

But around 3 p.m. on August 7, one of the construction workers at the site accidentally dug a bomb. When they dug deeper, they found more vintage bombs, mostly tube types of a howitzer and 69 mm.

“We placed barriers and barricades in the four construction sites here where bombs were recovered earlier. Every time the contractors recovered one, they immediately reported it to me and we called the bomb squad to secure it,” Valesco said.

Colonel Rolando Gomez, commander of the Army’s 11th Infantry Battalion, said he was coordinating with university officials and contractors for the recovery of the bombs to ensure their proper disposal.