MANILA, Philippines–A phone call to an office in Net One Building along 26th Avenue in Bonifacio Global City Friday afternoon, reporting the alleged presence of a bomb, sent police scurrying to tell employees to evacuate the building.
Supt Celso Rodriguez, Taguig police operations chief, said that around 1:45 p.m. Cypress call center employee Jenny Pagulagayan received the call on the administration office landline on the second floor of Net One.
The male caller, pegged to be around 17 to 20 years of age, had told her there was bomb in the building.
After management called police at around 2:45 p.m., investigators arrived with bomb sniffing dogs, and evacuated the first two floors of the building, with around 100 employees.
An initial sweep on the first two floors of the building proved negative for bombs, Rodriguez said.
As of press time, the evacuation has extended to the adjacent building. More bomb-sniffing dog teams have been deployed inside the two buildings.
26th Ave from corner 3rd to 4th St has been closed to traffic. Employees continue to mill around the area.
A marketing official for Net One has told reporters the situation is “under control.”
Rodriguez said the phone call has been traced to Manila North Harbor. Investigators surmise the caller may have been a disgruntled or former employee of Net One, Rodriguez said.
In a text message at 5 p.m., National Capital Region Police Office head Director Leonardo Espina confirmed the bomb threat “is negative.”
“EOD and K9 units from Taguig, Southern metro police and NCRPO just finished panelling all 17 floors of the building,” Espina said.