Classes in a university in Cebu City were disrupted by a bomb threat sent through a social media post.  

Personnel at Station 4 of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) received an alarm on a bomb threat against a university in Barangay Banilad at around 6 a.m. on Tuesday, August 13, 2024.

Members of the Special Unit of the Philippine National Police (PNP) comprised of the Explosive and Ordnance Division (EOD) with their police dogs, Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), and the Regional Anti-Cyber Crime Unit (RACCU) responded to the alarm.

The police forces checked thoroughly all nine floors of the university to verify the presence of any explosive device.

In the said social media post, that had the university's official Facebook account tagged, the post seemingly invited the attention of school administrators to a personal experience that the threat peddler is going through.

The post sowed fear among school personnel and students as its tenor gravitated toward “suicide bombing,” and that photographs of types of weapons, bombs, and grenades came with the post. 

Police Colonel Antonietto Cañete, acting CCPO director, visited the University of Cebu - Banilad campus to speak to its chancellor, Candice Gotianuy.

Cañete said that the perpetrator of the bomb threat will answer according to the law.

“We will file appropriate charges, this is a serious criminal case,” Cañete said.

The university has vowed to assist the person who posted the threat believed to be tormented by emotional and mental challenges.

“It seems that he is crying for help, we have mental health professionals as you are aware; we have people who can help you, we just wish you well,” Gotianuy said in addressing the person responsible for the bomb threat. 

Acting Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia also visited the school and lauded the prompt response of the authorities.

“Pasalamat dayon ta sa atong kapulisan sa ilang pag-respond right away, nag-clearing operations dayon sila. Karon, we can now say that it was just a prank,” Garcia said.

Face-to-face classes were suspended temporarily; students shifted to online classes while bomb experts carried out a paneling or clearing of the area.

After four hours, no bomb was found. The university was cleared from further threat, according to Police Major Romeo Caacoy, chief of Station 4 of the CCPO.