BACOLOD CITY––Authorities are looking into the identity of the person behind the bomb scare at this city’s Hall of Justice (HOJ) on Wednesday, Aug. 25.
Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Raymond Joseph Javier said a lawyer of the Bacolod City Public Attorney’s Office got a phone call from an anonymous person at 7:30 a.m., instructing PAO employees to immediately leave their office because a bomb would explode at 9 a.m.
Javier said he then gave instructions to all HOJ employees and visitors to immediately leave the building.
A bomb disposal team composed of the Negros Occidental Police Bomb Squad Unit, National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine Army Explosive and Ordinance Division, and the Philippine Coast Guard was immediately formed to inspect the building.
“After a thorough sweep of the whole building, including the parking areas, the bomb team cleared the building and declared it safe for occupancy,” Javier said.
Court operations resumed around 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
“Investigation of the identity of the anonymous caller is still ongoing,” Javier said.
A bomb scare that turned out to be a hoax also disrupted work at the Hall of Justice in Bacolod on April 6.