PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — An abandoned sack bag, which was found on the national road in front of the Puerto Princesa City Jail (PPCJ) in Barangay Tiniguiban here on Monday, had alarmed residents, who thought it contained bomb.
But when subjected to a disrupt-in-place (DIP) procedure by joint elements of various Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams, it was found to contain bulbs, kitchen utensils, body wash soaps, towels, and comforters.
Senior Inspector Pearl Manyll Lamban-Marzo, the spokesperson of the Puerto Princesa City Police Office (PPCPO), said Monday evening that after receiving reports about the unattended bag at 4:50 p.m., the EOD K9 teams of the PPCPO, the Palawan Police Provincial Office (PPO), and the 3rd Marine Brigade (MBde) immediately responded to the scene.
PPCPO director Senior Supt. Ronnie Cariaga, meanwhile, said the bomb-sniffing canines that were sent to the area sat beside the bag, indicating it might have contained improvised explosive devices (EIDs).
“They conducted a procedure called disrupt-in-place (DIP) on the bag, but it has no explosive content. It’s negative. When bomb-detecting canines sit beside the bag, that means it might have metals inside. It’s good though that residents are vigilant when they see unattended bags like this,” he said.
Senior Inspector Reginald Pagulayan, chief of PPCPO’s EOD, said the DIP is a countermeasure against suspicious bags found abandoned.
When K9 dogs sit near unattended bags, they have to be evaluated and checked for possible IED content.
“We did the disrupted-in-place procedure to see if the green sack bag’s contents include explosives, but we didn’t find any. The canines sat near the bag because two of its contents –bulbs and body wash soaps – have similar contents as that of explosives,” he said.
The countermeasure was completed by the EOD teams around 6:50 p.m. (Celeste Anna Formoso/PNA)
