Bomb threat sends school kids scampering for safety in Cotabato town

KIDAPAWAN CITY — A report of a bomb in the school Thursday morning had pupils of a pilot elementary school in M’lang, Cotabato scampering for safety, a local official said.

M’lang town Mayor Russel Abonado said this happened after the school principal of the M’lang Pilot Elementary School received a text message from an unknown sender about a bomb planted somewhere in the school premises and was about to explode.

Promptly and without hesitation, the school head immediately informed the teachers and announced the bomb threat during the flag raising ceremony.

Hearing it, pupils scampered to the classroom, some of them crying and calling their parents and did not know what to do.

Some of the pupils even went out of the campus and ran towards the highway. Later, the parents learned about the news and went to the campus to fetch their children.

Abonado, who also rushed to the school to take control of the situation, said parents preferred to bring home their school children.

The K9 Unit of M’lang checked the entire campus and even the rooms but found no bomb.

Abonado said he would call an emergency meeting among schools to discuss how to deal with bomb threats.

“We would like to educate our school management how to deal with this kind of scenario without inflicting fear on our students,” the mayor said./lzb