
PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 12, 2013) – A bag left on a roadside in the business center of Pagadian City was disrupted by police bomb experts on suspicion it contained an improvised explosive.
Police said the bag was abandoned in front of Master Hardware along Rizal Street and inspected by members of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, who used water jet disruptor to disable any electronic component in the bag.
But the bag yielded an aluminium cooking pot and a pair of slippers only. Police said there were no traces of explosives in the bag or the cooking pot.
Just recently, police also used water jet disruptor in a suspected car bomb left at the Gaisano Mall parking in Pagadian City but no explosives were found in the car, although it caused a bomb scare in the city.
Two suspicious bags abandoned in downtown Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay province were also destroyed by army bomb squad.
In Zamboanga City, a motorcycle left at a Catholic Church sent police bomb squad into the compound to inspect the vehicle, but they found no bomb.
The disruptor is a tool commonly used by EOD to disable an explosive device without detonating or exploding it. It uses a shot of water to pierce through thin walled items, such as packages and bags, or briefcases, to destroy any circuitry before detonation occurs. (Mindanao Examiner)