Gensanportal - Mindanao News Blog

By Roel N. Catoto

SURIGAO CITY – An attaché case which was left unattended inside a local bakeshop had caused panic among its employees, staff and customers Wednesday night, Sept. 9, 2009. It was feared to have contained a home-made bomb intended to terrorize this city a day before its fiesta celebration.

The “suspected bomb” was left idle inside the Home Baker Bakeshop along Kilometer 1, this city.

Heavy traffic jammed motorists along the national highway for almost 45 minutes as law enforcement authorities and a PNP Bomb Disposal Unit made precautionary measures to ensure the proper handling of the “bomb” and likewise ensure public safety.

Police investigation revealed that at around 5:55 p.m., a customer casually walked inside the bakeshop to buy bread and noticed the presence of a black attaché case left near the bread rack at Home Baker Bakeshop located along Kilometer 1 just across a gasoline station.

After being alerted, City rescuers with K-9 dog together with some PNP operatives and firefighters rushed to the scene, with the latter blocking a portion of the national highway using their firetrucks.

Police Superintendent Joseph Rocolcol Nohara of the Provincial Police Office and Explosive Ordnance Division checked the suspected explosive as it look suspiciously dangerous to public safety.

“We were about to get the bag and would bring it into a safe place to detonate the same so we could determine if it was a real bomb or not, but, suddenly an old woman appeared and claimed she was the owner of the attaché case. It was already almost three hours from the time of its discovery and the tension was very high at the time. With her claim, we were all relieved from tension and the once-panicky condition returned to normal,” Police Officer 3 Richard Ensomo disclosed.

Police identified the woman as Lilmenda Banalo, a 65 year-old widow and a barangay councilor of Bgry. Mahayahay, San Miguel, Surigao Del Sur.

Banalo told police authorities that she came to Surigao City to visit her offspring and join revelry of its fiesta celebration..

“She dropped by the said bakeshop to buy some bread. Because of too many things she carried including sacks of rice and others at the time she arrived therein, she decided to bring all her baggage inside the bakery. The bakeshop’s security guard at the time was in the comfort room. When she left the bakeshop, she forgot to bring with her the attaché case,” P03 Ensomo said.

Banalo’s claim of ownership of the feared attaché case had brought a sigh of relief among employees of the said bakeshop, law enforcement authorities and the public. For them, it was an unforgettable night of fear, suspense and feeling of relief.

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