No oops, please

The predicament over the discovery of 25 (and counting) World War II bombs in Kawit Island reminds us of what demolition specialists said was the one word that they hate to hear when they’re setting up a timed explosion: Ooops.

That won’t be the scenario in Cebu, we’re sure.

Under close guidance of military experts in the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team, the exercise is scheduled in Toledo City tomorrow.

An abandoned mining pit of the old Atlas copper mines will be the fiery graveyard of a war’s unused weapons of destruction.

Balamban town in the west coast was too risky a route while a tentative site in Carmen town was found to be too close to inhabitants.

The care with which this undertaking is being planned, with locations being assessed for the potential impact of explosions in peace-time Cebu, is commendable.

So is the cooperation.

The Cebu city government and private contractor in Kawit Island realized it couldn’t successfully sweep this obstruction away by working alone. The police have cordoned the excavation area where the bombs were found and the Armed Forces has stepped in.

Although there was initial pause over who would pay for the C4 explosives and other expenses of bomb housekpeeing, we’re glad to see patriots stepping up.

The Carmen Copper Corporation has made the mining pit available and offered to tap its own private supplier for the “booster” explosives to detonate the shells.

All this is charged to “corporate social responsibility”, they said.

The trucks that will transport the bombs to Toledo in midwest Cebu are the units of Dakay Construction, the developer of the white sand beach in Kawit Island where the bombs were discovered.

To the drivers and handlers who have to load the the actual devices for the long drive west, and the escorts, we owe our gratitude for this service for public safety.

The spirit of collaboration between the government and private sector, in the media spotlight of transparency, is the main ingredient of a successful solution.

We certainly don’t want to invite amateurs to such a delicate operation. Just this week, two policemen brought a war vintage bomb to a welding shop in Taguig, Metro Manila. In a clumsy attempt to defuse it by pounding away and torching it, the shell exploded killing the law enforcers and the shop owner.

This won’t happen tomorrow.

All parties will be careful, safe and thinking of preserving life, especially their own.