Carmen town eyed as site to detonate WWII vintage bombs
Military and police authorities will inspect Carmen town in north Cebu today as a possible site to detonate not just ten but at least 23 World War II bombs recently dug up in reclaimed land in Cebu City.
Finding a vacant area large and deep enough for the explosion and far away from inhabitants is key.
“The area should be minimum of 300 radius diameter and it should be clear,” said Lt. Col Christopher Tampus, spokesman of the AFP Central Command.
The bombs were excavated by a labor crew developing a beach resort for Filinvest in the former Kawit Island. A backhoe accidentally hit a large metal object last week.
Exploding the vintage ordnances on site would damage 300 to 500 square meters of land in the South Road Properties (SRP).
Tampus said the first option was to explode them in barangay Biasong in Balamban town in western coast of Cebu but this was “not feasible” because it was too far and inconvenient to transport them “upward” since the route involves the Transcentral Highway.
C4 explosives will be used by the military to set off the bombs, and the remains will be buried underground, he said.
An inventory is being made of the cache, which includes depth charge bombs, artillery bombs and general purpose bombs, each weighing about 150 pounds.
When the site is ready, two military trucks will transport the bombs to Carmen town, said Tampus. Personnel of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), using gloves and protective clothing, will help load them one by one on the truck.
Kawit Island was a Japanese military base during World War II and served as an “armory,” said Tampus, so it was not unusual for bombs to be stockpiled there.
Tampus said there is 99 percent chance these were Japanese bombs used in World War II based on telltale signs of “picric acid” oozing from the metal cover.
Contact with the acid can burn the skin, he cautioned. Inhaling picric acid can cause nausea or vomiting. Swallowing it can cause death.
However, Tampus said the vintage bombs will only explode if a fuse is installed.
Rep. Tomas Osmeña, former Cebu City mayor, suggested the Hilutongan Channel off Cordova town as a detonation site because at 800 feet deep, the blasts would barely be felt on the surface.
“I don’t exactly know its history but since Kawit Island is strategically located as an outpost because it guards the entrance of the channel of Cebu, it’s not surprising that it would be an ideal place to keep bombs,” he said in an interview.
He expressed confidence the discovery would not hamper construction activities at SRP.
“It’s rare for old bombs to explode unless there’s a fire. But I think the bombs have long been deactivated because these were buried in mud.”
Cebu Daily News earlier reported that ten vintage bombs were found when a backhoe of Dakay Construction and Development hit a metal object in the seashore of the former Kawit Island.
But yesterday more bombs were discovered, said Chief Insp. Gulaberto Gabales of the Mambaling police precinct, whose men cordoned off the area. The latest count had 23 vintage bombs recovered, many of them rusted.
Staff of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources also visited the site because of reports that picric acid had leaked into the seawater.
Police said construction workers described noticing dead fish floating in the area before they discovered the bombs. /With Doris Bongcac and Chito Aragon
