POLICE respond to a bomb threat in an Iloilo City school. (Iloilo City Public Order and Safety Management Office)
ILOILO CITY – Despite one student in custody, the national government is needed to help solve and stop the spate of bomb threats in Iloilo, particularly Iloilo City.
In a resolution, the Iloilo City Council asked the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), Meta, parent company of Facebook, and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to help address these.
“These threats are not only causing fear but are also severely disrupting the learning of students. Investigations have revealed the use of online platforms and dummy accounts, making it challenging to identify the perpetrators,” said Councilor Sedfrey Cabaluna, author of the resolution.
The Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO), Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO), and the PNP Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit-6 have yet to determine who is behind these bomb threats.
The 15-year-old student under police custody on Thursday was believed to have been a copycat and sent the text message to his school only and may not have been the one that sent the others.
Since Nov. 12, nearly 40 bomb threats have been made to schools in Iloilo City and there were also more than a dozen in the towns of Iloilo province.
The resolution wants to tap the “technical expertise and resources necessary to assist in tracing the origin of these threats, analyzing digital evidence, and identifying the individuals or groups responsible.”
A combined P200,000 reward for any information leading to a crackdown have been offered. Iloilo City Mayor Raisa Treñas and Iloilo Gov. Arthur “Toto” Defensor Jr. have announced a reward of P100,000 each.