ILOILO City – With more than 30 bomb threats sowing panic and repeatedly disrupting classes, the Iloilo City government is shifting from reactive evacuations to proactive capacity-building by rolling out a citywide bomb threat management training program for schools.
The initiative, pushed by Councilor Sedfrey Cabaluna, chairperson of the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s Committee on Public Order and Safety, aims to equip school heads and security teams with the skills to intelligently assess and respond to threats — an urgent move as authorities admit the wave of threats has become “alarming.”
“There are a few ways forward,” Cabaluna said after a coordination meeting with school administrators, the Philippine National Police, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). “Una, may isa ka training nga pag-ubrahon soonest, that involves managing bomb threats. Ini ang pagahimoon sang PNP (Philippine National Police) upod ang mga school heads kag security personnel nila. This will help them strengthen their security measures and improve their handling of threats in the future.”
He said the goal is not only to ensure fast and orderly responses but to prevent unnecessary panic.
“One of the points raised was minimizing the impact of these threats,” he added. “That means kung may bomb threat, indi na necessarily nga insigida isuspend ang klase. Isa ina ka option, but it must be evaluated on a case-to-case basis. Indi mo pwede lang treat nga lango-lango all the time. That’s why they need the training — to identify or at least be equipped to assess if it’s a bomb joke or an actual threat.”
Cabaluna said the local government unit will intensify its involvement in the investigation into the threats, noting that closer collaboration among agencies is now necessary.
“We will be coordinating the investigation nga i-assist na sang LGU,” he said. “We will bring them together. Next steps are basically handling future instances in a coordinated manner. May suhestiyon man nga ubrahon naton ang isa ka platform nga ini nga mga agencies isa lang, unified.”
Preparations for the training are underway, with Western Visayas State University (WVSU) identified as the first school ready for implementation.
“Ang na-identify nga makaagi sang training is ang WVSU kay may ara sila sang critical incident management team,” Cabaluna said, adding that the city aims to help other schools develop similar units.
Schools were also reminded to refine their safety protocols — particularly decision-making on class suspensions—so that responses become more consistent across campuses.
“May mga protocols sila nga kinahanglan i-plastar — paano mag-suspend, ano ang limits sini,” he said. “That will be part of the bomb threat management training. May ara man kami information nga indi ko pa ma-share, but moving forward, this will lessen the impact of threats on the community.”
Cabaluna stressed that authorities remain determined to track down the perpetrators.
“We are really looking at the intention. Kinahanglan makita gid kung sin-o sa likod sini,” he said. “Individually or collectively, mapasabat sila. Indi pwede nga magpadayon lang ini nga problema.”
The training schedule is expected to be finalized once the venue and logistics are secured./PN