THE departure of the remaining nine Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit delegates on Friday went on time and as scheduled, unaffected by the heightened police and military surveillance owing to a bomb threat that was received in the morning by the airport police desk.
Bomb experts, backed by bomb-sniffing dogs, scoured the airport premises for bombs but returned empty handed, showing that the call was a hoax.
Vicente L. Guerzon, the airport’s senior assistant general manager, said the airport police received the call at 5:43 a.m. on Friday from a local mobile number, saying that a bomb was planted at the airport.
The caller, however, did not say in which of the four passenger terminals the bomb was planted, forcing the airport police authorities to make a sweep of the four terminals.
Security protocol provides that the number of the cellular phone be traced immediately, but several calls to the same number remained unanswered, Guerzon said.
However, Guerzon said intelligence surveillance operations were also increased, in coordination with the National Police’s Aviation Security Group (Avsegroup).
Bomb-sniffing dogs were deployed discreetly around the airport terminals, curbside areas and parking areas.
Surveillance operations, in response to the threat, will be in place until further notice, Guerzon said.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was the first head of economy to leave the country after attending the four-day Apec summit in Manila. His aircraft lifted off the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
He was followed by 11 other heads of economy, not necessarily following the schedule provided to the media, apparently owing to the visitors’ time preference, security concerns and the air-traffic considerations.
The Apec representatives who followed Santos include those from Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Australia, Singapore, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Mexico, Chile and Peru, whose scheduled departure was 11 p.m. on Thursday.
On Friday the parade of departing leaders was led by Canadian Prime Minister Justine Trudeau, who took off from Naia at 8:30 a.m., half an hour ahead of his scheduled 9 a.m. departure.
He was followed by the heads of economy of Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Taipei, South Korea and Japan.
US President Barack Obama’s blue and white Air Force One Boeing 747 took off at 12:17 p.m. His plane headed for Malaysia, where he will attend the two-day Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.
After New Guinea’s head of economy, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla Bandang took off, while Chinese President Xi Jinping lifted off at 10:18 a.m.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye did not allow the media to cover her departure. She took off at 10:25 a.m.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key took off at 12:38 p.m., while Russian Prime Minister Dimitri Medvedev left at 2:13 pm.
Image credits: NONIE REYES