MANILA (AFP) – Security patrols and sniffer dogs were deployed at dozens of Philippine airports yesterday, after the aviation regulator received a bomb threat against commercial planes.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said it was investigating the threat received via email on Wednesday warning that aircraft at Manila airport and four others would “explode”.
The regulator said in a statement yesterday that 42 commercial airports “are on heightened alert” and that “immediate enhanced security measures are being implemented across all airports”.
Spokesman for the aviation authority Eric Apolonio told AFP that no flights were disrupted and “no bombs have been found”.
The Manila airport authority said yesterday that “foot and mobile patrols are in place and K9 units are doing the rounds of the terminals as added measures to its already established day-to-day protocols”. The Manila airport measures were also being implemented at the other airports, Apolonio told AFP.
He said the threat was the second at a Philippine airport since Monday, when a Manila-bound flight aborted takeoff at Bicol airport after the pilot discovered a scrap of paper in the plane’s toilet with the word “BOMB??” written on it.
All 133 passengers were ordered off the plane to undergo security checks, while an incoming flight was sent back to Manila as Bicol airport authorities closed the runway and suspended flight operations, Apolonio said.
The authorities later concluded it was a “joke” and the plane was allowed to take off nearly four hours later, he said.
Apolonio would not comment on whether the authorities suspected the Monday and Wednesday threats were related.
