W. Visayas Police Urges Public to Stay Calm Amid Hoax Text Message on Suicide Bombers

Iloilo City –- Police in Western Visayas have called on the public not to panic amid the circulation of a hoax text message that a suicide bomber from Basilan is plotting to attack Iloilo malls.

Head of the regional police’s public information office, Supt. Gilbert Gorero, denied that there is a suicide bomber in Western Visayas.

He said the regional police is on top of the situation, assuring that military and police personnel have been deployed to areas of convergence in all parts of the region, and that checkpoints have been set up in major thoroughfares.

Gorero advised recipients of the text message that instead of sharing it, they should report to the PNP through its hotlines any suspicious baggage in their area.

“We encourage everybody to be extra vigilant and alert at all times,” he said. (PNA) CVL/PGLENA/CBF