Palace questions bomb threat at OVP

Malacañang questioned Tuesday the bomb threat at the Office of the Vice President (OVP), saying the office should disclose details about the incident.

At a press briefing, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro was asked if there was a reason for the public to be alarmed about the incident last Monday given that it was being linked to the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

"Ito po tayo ulit. Saan na naman po ito nakuha na pagbibintang? Threat, bomb threat sa office ng OVP, ng Vice President? Ano po ang isinagawa nila? Kung iyan naman po ay nanggaling sa kanila, ano po ang nangyari? Ipakita po nila iyong detalye," Castro said.

(Here we go again. Where did these allegations come from? Threat, bomb threat at the office of OVP, of the Vice President? What did they carry out? If that came from them, what happened? They should show what happened.)

"Iyon lamang po kasi maraming puwedeng gumawa ng kuwento, maraming magsabi may bomb threats pero wala naman," she added.

(Many can make such stories, many can claim that bomb threats were made, but in truth these never happened.)

Work at the Office of Vice President Sara Duterte was disrupted following a bomb threat Monday afternoon, a statement from the OVP said.

"Fortunately, no explosive devices were found, and the OVP resumed operations at 4 p.m.," it added.

Personnel of the OVP were directed to evacuate to a secured area of Robinsons Cybergate Plaza in Mandaluyong City after a staff member reported receiving a text message containing the bomb threat.

Reached for comment, Duterte said the OVP was following protocol for such an eventuality.  

"Mayroon na po kaming standard operating procedures kapag mayroong mga ganito, bomb
threats in the office. And they did exactly that, kung ano yung sistema. Nag-evacuation po kami ng aming
mga employees. At iniimbestigahan din namin yung nagsabi na nakatanggap siya ng bomb threat," the Vice President said.

(We have standard operating procedures for situations like this. And they did exactly that, what the system requires. We evacuated our employees. We are investigating the person who claimed they received a bomb threat.) —VDV/RF, GMA Integrated News