Last Jan. 23, laborers working on a beach resort were shocked to find close to 30 vintage bombs in the former Kawit Island at the South Road Properties (SRP).
So how did those bombs end up in the SRP?
A Cebuano painter, who asked not to be named, said the bombs were brought by fishermen from barangay Carreta to the SRP.
The painter, a resident in Cebu City, said it was their late parents who told them about the story of the vintage bombs found by construction workers in SRP.
He said the bombs may have been used by the US or Japanese soldiers.
The painter said American troops used aerial bombs from their planes. He said a bomb should land on a hard surface for it to explode.
The painter said aerial bombs have fins that caused them to snag in tree branches when dropped.
He said local fishermen in barangay Carreta found the vintage bombs in tree branches and in the seawaters in Carreta.
“The (sea) water (in Carreta) was very clear,” the painter said. He added that the fishermen used the powder inside the bombs for dynamite fishing.
“They unscrewed (the fuse) and defused it (bombs) with the use of a pipe wrench,” he said.
He explained that the fishermen didn’t have a hard time unscrewing the bombs since they were very new when they found them.
After getting the powder from the bombs for dynamite fishing, the fishermen brought them to SRP on their banca.
“They (bombs) have been defused by the fishermen before,” the painter said.
He said the Cebu City government should conduct further study whether to keep the bombs in a museum because the bombs are still “dangerous.”
Philip Zafra, chief of staff of Cebu City mayor Michael Rama, said the number of bombs unearthed have increased to 29 and not just 23 as earlier reported.
Zafra said while personnel from the Explosives Ordinance Disposal were cleaning the bombs, more explosives were found mixed in cement and mud.
With the help of personnel and heavy equipment from Carmen Copper Corp., the Central Command’s EOD already dug three pits that will be used in detonating the bombs in Biga pit.
Zafra said they returned to Toledo City yesterday to dig four more pits for the bombs in the CCC’s open mining pit.
The EOD team is still awaiting approval from Camp Aguinaldo before they could start defusing the vintage bombs. Zafra said he is awaiting approval from top military officials on his request for allocation of 124 C4 bombs to detonate the 28 vintage bombs./WITH Chief of Reporters DORIS C. BONGCAC