A spurious bomb threat allegedly issued by the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group triggered panic inside the University of the Philippines Diliman campus in Quezon City on Thursday afternoon.
Chancellor Michael Tan, in an advisory posted on Facebook, said UP鈥檚 campus maintenance office hotline received a text message whose sender claimed they placed explosives inside the campus that would explode after 3:30 p.m.
The text message read: 鈥淣aglagay kami ng maga [sic] bomba na naka2lat sa UP Diliman. SDa2bog ang ito pagkatapos ng pagda2sl naming ng 3:30 PM.鈥�
鈥淭he message claimed this was to take revenge (鈥�bilng gnti鈥�) for attacks in Patikul, Sulu,鈥� Tan said.
School authorities then declared the threat as a hoax.
鈥淥ur chief security officer and disaster response team see it as a hoax. Contrary to rumors, the administration has neither cancelled classes nor ordered evacuations as they would only encourage more pranksters,鈥� he added.
鈥淣onetheless, we are not taking chances and have ordered our security forces to be on full alert for the next few days,鈥� Tan said.
School personnel were also instructed to turn over suspicious-looking bags or packages to bomb disposal squads if needed.
鈥淲e will continue to be on alert with or without bomb threats given the tense situation with the ASG,鈥� he said.