Military detonates 500-lb bomb in Marawi

ILIGAN CITY –– The military’s Explosive and Ordnance Disposal Team detonated on Saturday, December 14, a 500-pound bomb that did not explode when dropped by an Air Force unit at the height of the five-month-long siege of Marawi City in 2017.

Lt. Col. Elmer Oamil, deputy commander of Joint Task Group Builder, which oversees the security of debris-clearing operations in the city, said the bomb was the 42nd they disposed of.

Oamil said Army engineers found the weapon underneath a ruined building, which had yet to be demolished in lakeside Barangay Sabala Manao.

The bomb was detonated in the same place where it was found, around 10 a.m. on Saturday. Blast walls were installed to contain the impact of the bomb’s explosion.

Bomb-clearing has bugged the start of rehabilitation work for the war-torn city.

Two weeks ago, the Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM), the agency that coordinates the city’s rehabilitation efforts, has declared the once battle zone as almost cleared of bombs.

Housing Secretary and TFBM chair Eduardo del Rosario said this was why work on infrastructure rehabilitation in the city would be on full blast by January next year./lzb