No explosives found in DBM Procurement Service office after bomb threat

MANILA, Philippines — Police and military experts responding to a bomb threat on Tuesday at the office of the Department of Budget and Management Procurement Service in Paco, Manila found no explosives at all on the premises.

Dennis Santiago, executive director of the Procurement Service, called authorities about the alleged bomb threat at around 10 a.m., according to a report from the Manila Police District (MPD).

Members of the MPD District Explosive and Canine Unit (DECU) and the Philippine Army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) responded to the call at the office, which is on Cristobal Street, Barangay 662, Zone 71 in Paco.

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According to the MPD,  Santiago said he received a message from the head of the marketing sales of the department saying she received an e-mail from a Japanese lawyer called Takahiro Karasawa, who claimed to have planted “high-performance bombs in public buildings in the city of Manila” that would explode around 3:34 p.m.

“Unlike previous bomb threats, it really explodes, and many people die,” the message read, according to police.

This then prompted authorities to conduct a threat assessment and paneling around the area.