Employees of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in Quezon City cool their heels outside their offices after a grenade is found in the men’s toilet on the third floor. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
Work was disrupted for at least two hours at the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) office on East Avenue, Quezon City after a grenade was found in the men’s toilet.
At 9:20 a.m. Monday, a man called up the government agency and warned an employee about explosives that had been planted on the premises.
Insp. Noel Sublay of the Quezon City Police District’s Explosives and Ordnance Division (EOD) said the caller had introduced himself as someone who was treated unfairly by Philtranco, a bus company plying routes in southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
“Someone planted four grenades in your office. One is in a toilet while there is another outside. Everyone should get out of the building,” the caller was quoted as telling the employee who immediately informed the police about the bomb threat.
Everyone in the building was promptly evacuated while EOD personnel conducted a search. They later asked several employees to check their offices for anything out of the ordinary.
At 10:30 a.m., a janitor who was one of those asked to do a quick check, found the MK2 fragmentation hand grenade in the men’s restroom on the third floor.
It had been placed in the water tank of one of the toilet bowls in the toilet located near the legal office.
Sublay noted that the grenade still had its pin and had been wrapped in packing tape. A closer inspection, however, showed that it did not have any explosive, detonator or blasting cap.
“It was an empty shell and did not have fillers,” Sublay said.
Police theorized that the explosive was obviously placed by someone who managed to enter the LTFRB compound.
Sublay said they would be reviewing the footage taken by surveillance cameras inside the agency to check if these were able to capture on tape the person who planted the explosive.
LTFRB chairman Winston Ginez, meanwhile, ordered the resumption of work after noon after EOD teams declared the building safe.
Originally posted: 3:31 pm | Monday, November 4th, 2013
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