'Bomb scare' grips provincial hospital
BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

SWAT leader PO3 Vengie Repedro (center)inspecting the suspected package found at Dr.Rafael S. Tumbokon Memorial Hospital parking area. The package turned out to be a hoax. (BR Zabal)

KALIBO, Aklan – A suspected package discovered in the parking area of Aklan provincial hospital caused panic and fear over the weekend.
But it turned out a hoax after the police belied it was an improvised bomb.
Security guard Romeo Sunico said they recovered the package inside a white plastic at around 3:30 p.m. yesterday near the concrete perimeter fence of Dr. Rafael S. Tumbokon Memorial Hospital (DRSTMH) facing Mabini Street.
Sunico added the package was intentionally left in the afternoon until a hospital sweeper saw it in the parking area.
Responding cops from the Kalibo PNP immediately cleared the parking area of the hospital while a team from the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) led by PO3 Vengie Repedro tried to detonate the package using a water disruptor.
The ‘bomb’ scare caused undue alarm to hospital personnel and patients, which later turned out to be a flop.
Repedro, a bomb expert, said the package contained 9 volts battery, a 3A battery, parts of alarm clock, a rubber box, a motor oil container with sand and an electric wire.
“This is not a bomb because it had no explosive powder inside,” he stressed to reporters.
Repedro said the package had a cartoon tag printed, “To Gov. Marquez” believed planted by pranksters out to puzzle the local police.
The package was brought to the Aklan Police Provincial Office (APPO) for investigation, Repedro said.
The bomb scare coincided with the visit of PNP Director for Logistics Jose Antonio Salvacion and Chief Supt. Wilfredo Dulay Sr, newly-installed Police Regional Office 6 director for the blessing of APPO's multi-purpose building and firing range.
The newly renovated DRSTMH is a major economic enterprise of the Marquez administration aside from the Caticlan jetty port in the town of Malay, it was learned.
No one has claimed responsibility of the incident, the police said.