‘Hoax’ IED found near Manila City Hall —police

Tension gripped the Manila City Hall Wednesday morning after a suspicious object that looked like an improvised explosive device (IED) was found at an area near the gate where Mayor Joseph Estrada  enters as he reports for work.

GMA News' Carlo Mateo reported on Unang Balita that the suspicious object was found along Natividad Street in front of the gate that Estrada uses everyday, facing the Liwasang Bonifacio.

Elements of the Manila Police District (MPD) Explosive and Ordnance Division rushed to the area at past 6 a.m. to check and tried to detonate the object which was found to be a hoax. 

The supposed explosive device appeared to be having three dynamite sticks, wires, and a cellphone attached to it, the report said.

Street sweeper Junmar found the suspicious object in a garbage bin outside the gate of the Unibersidad de Manila near the Bonifacio Shrine, the report said, adding that it was dumped along with discarded school projects. 

Junmar gave the object to another sweeper Romeo, who turned it over to the security guard at a gate of the Manila City Hall.

Cops conducted a "disrupting process" to neutralize the "IED."

Superintendent Romeo Desiderio, MPD Ermita police station chief, said that the IED had no explosive component.

"This is considered a hoax item. May nanakot lang ho sa atin... Wala na hong dapat ikabahala," Desiderio said in a radio dzBB interview.

By 7:30 a.m., MPD declared the area clear.

The incident came over a week after an IED was found near the US Embassy, also  in Manila. —Erwin Colcol/LBG/ALG, GMA News