CAMPUS SECURITY has been tightened following the bomb scare in the Ateneo on February 12.

An unregistered number sent a text message to three employees saying that bombs had been planted inside the campus. The threat was later found to be a hoax.

Megaforce Integrated Security Agency (MISA) Detachment Commander to the Ateneo Darwin Enguerra, CSP said that three bomb-sniffing dogs have been deployed on campus, two coming from MISA and one provided by the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Random under chassis security inspections are being conducted for vehicles entering the Ateneo. Enguerra added that under chassis inspections are also conducted for all parked cars.

The National Capital Region Police Office has deployed a bomb squad along Katipunan Avenue as well.

In the interim, cars with no Ateneo stickers will no longer be allowed to enter campus without a gate pass. Vehicles without stickers were previously allowed to enter between 6:00 AM to 8:00 AM to help mitigate traffic.

The administration will also collaborate with MISA to improve security personnel training.

Members of the administration and campus security had a meeting on February 18 to further discuss the bomb threat and other security concerns. As of press time, however, they were unavailable for interview.

Timeline of events

According to the 2010 PNP Manual, determined bombers do not frequently give warnings of a possible explosion or incendiary attack.

The text message sent to the employees at 9:24 AM, 9:26 AM and 9:29 AM on February 12 read, “May mga bomba na sasabog sa Ateneo. Paniguradong madaming studyante at emplyedo ang mamatay. 30 minuto mula ngayon (Bombs will explode in the Ateneo. A lot of students and employees will surely be killed 30 minutes from now).”

The Ateneo administration contacted the PNP at 9:58 AM. The first of the five teams from the Quezon City Police District Explosives and Ordinance Division arrived on campus at 10:05 AM.

Three units were assigned to bomb sweep the Loyola Schools (LS), while two teams were deployed to inspect the Ateneo Grade School (AGS) and the Ateneo High School (AHS). The Residence Halls were given priority and were declared safe by 2:45 PM.

While authorities were conducting the bomb sweep, the administration and campus security spearheaded the evacuation process, which immediately began after classes and office work were suspended at 12 noon.

The Ateneo was officially cleared of any bomb threats by 5:00 PM.

During a press briefing held in Faber Hall in the same afternoon, University President Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ said that the administration is working closely with authorities to identify the text message sender and to determine his or her motive.

In an interview with ANC, Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista announced that the police traced the source of the message to somewhere in Marikina City.

In a video message released on February 13, Villarin thanked the Ateneo community for their cooperation during the evacuation.

“We were commended on several occasions for our organized and speedy execution of our emergency procedures. I’m grateful also for alumni, parents, friends who’ve expressed their concern and support,” he said.

He added, “What is overwhelming and consoling is to see even the local government and the national government mobilizing their resources to protect us, our children.”

According to Villarin, the Ateneo community should remain vigilant as “these are more challenging times.”

“It helps to be more alert, more mindful, more sensitive to each other, to the security concerns of the place,” he said, emphasizing that the Ateneo “remains to be a very safe place.”

Evacuation planning and execution dilemmas

However, the administration faced problems as regards the planning and execution of the evacuation.

Several students asked via social media why the university only announced the evacuation roughly two hours after the bomb was supposedly set to explode.

In an interview with The GUIDON, Villarin explained that the employees who received the text messages did not immediately inform the administration about the situation. When they did, he said the administration called the PNP straight away to help them in the verification process.

He added that formulating a proper evacuation plan for the thousands of students and employees inside the Ateneo took some time.

The administration originally planned to evacuate the AGS first, then the AHS, followed by the LS. He said that the administration was only able to make the official announcement at 12 PM because they were calling the parents of AGS and AHS students.

“We also did not want the people to panic. So we had to carefully orchestrate this (evacuation) [to clarify] that this is not a drill,” Villarin added.

The police protocol to have evacuation areas bomb swept first was not followed either.

According to Villarin, the administration tried to abide by the procedure by asking all Ateneans to evacuate to open spaces such as Bellarmine field and the baseball field.

“We were taking a risk here [by asking the community to evacuate to] an open area,” he said, adding that the field was likely to be safer than the buildings. “That was a risk that we had to take.”

However, most of the students and employees already proceeded to the other evacuation areas. Some Residence Halls dormers also opted to stay in Cervini field because they had nowhere else to go.

Villarin said the administration then asked the police to bomb sweep the assembly areas and the dormitories as soon as possible.

The evacuation process also saw a congestion of pedestrians and vehicles trying to exit the campus.

The PNP Manual says that people should “avoid car parks as assembly areas and be mindful of the car bomb potential” during evacuation. However, several Ateneans still went to the parking areas to drive their cars out of campus.

Villarin acknowledged the oversight. He said the administration should have staggered the outflow of cars and should have asked the community to stay put in the evacuation areas. He added that the Ateneo should have coordinated with the Metro Manila Development Authority as well.

Despite these problems, many members of the Ateneo community feel that the evacuation went smoothly.

According to supersenior Gab Torres, the administration generally handled the situation in “the best way possible.”

Safety and security

During the press conference, Vice President for Social Development Jaime Hofileña said ensuring campus security is “getting to be more complex.”

He said the administration has realized the need to properly prepare the Ateneo community not just for possible fire and earthquake incidents but also for other security concerns, including bomb threats and even on-campus shootings.

“That is what the administration needs to take away [from this]–to have different types of drills and preparations for any eventuality,” he said.

Meanwhile, Villarin expressed the university’s current responsibility to its patrons.

“I think we will have to convey to our stakeholders that this is a more complex, difficult world that we live in now. In the past, when we had these threats, sometimes, we were quite cavalier about it. These days, we cannot afford to just let this pass.”