Pangasinan school holds classes despite spray-painted bomb threat

DAGUPAN CITY – Students attended classes on Monday at a Pangasinan public high school despite a bomb threat that was spray painted on its walls over the weekend.

A security guard discovered a series of messages painted on the walls of the Juan G. Macaraeg National High School in Binalonan town on Saturday (Jan. 13), leading off with: “The bomb has been planted. It is not a joke. Try to ignore this it will explode Monday.”

All the messages were in English. “Try to ignore this. See what it looks like to bomb (sic),” one line says, while another referred to school principal Febe Juan by name, asking her to quit. “School is getting worse — former student,” the message says.

Danilo Fernandez, a teacher there, said the turnout of students during the flag-raising ceremony was normal, after they were informed over social media that the Police Explosives and Ordnance Division cleared the school after combing the area.

“There were no explosives found. They did not see suspicious objects. Students have nothing to fear,” said Senior Insp. Rommel Sembrano, Binalonan deputy police chief, during a Monday radio interview.

The messages were painted over by the time the students attended classes.

But policemen were deployed at the school premises. “We are still investigating. This is an isolated case. This is vandalism,” Sembrano said.

Citing school officials, he said the vandals may have been disgruntled vendors who were barred from the school area.