Experts carry out controlled blast of WWII bomb

By: Ernie Delgado

LEGAZPI CITY --- Bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled underground detonation of a World War II explosive in Albay on Saturday, a local government reported, after it was discovered south of the erupting Mayon Volcano.

Nearly 30 operatives from the Regional Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Canine Unit (RECU) cordoned off the site in the town of Camalig, where the 500-kilogram aircraft bomb was first discovered on July 21.

Residents of Camalig heard the explosion around 10 a.m. as experts detonated the wartime bomb in a meter-deep (3.3-foot) pit in Barangay Palanog, away from residential areas.

Footage of the operation showed rusted metal fragments at the bottom of a pit in an earth quarry site.

“The operation was completed safely, with no reported injuries or incidents,” the Camalig Public Information Office (CPIO) said in a statement.

Residents of Camalig who heard the bomb explosion initially mistook it for an explosive eruption from a volcano.

“[Bomba] po pala ang malakas na pumutok kanina (It turns out the loud explosion earlier was a bomb),” Prince Exekiel Muyna commented on Facebook. “Akala ko po si Mayon [Volcano] na (I thought it was Mayon Volcano erupting).

The bomb was discovered in Sitio Sogong, Barangay Ilawod, during work on a drainage near a World War II Japanese tunnel.

The bulky, cylindrical, rock-encrusted bomb was discovered less than a kilometer from the Japanese tunnel at Quituinan Hill in Barangay Tinago, which served as a fortress, garrison, and stronghold for the Japanese Imperial Army during the occupation in the 1940s.

The bomb was found just outside the extended danger zones established during the Mayon volcanic activity.

Workers constructing a flood control system at the site uncovered the bomb when an earth-moving machine exposed it, having been buried several feet underground.

According to Police Senior Master Sergeant Reynold Miraflor of the Albay Provincial Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Canine Unit, the bomb was active and could still explode if its warhead were triggered.

Miraflor said that the workers were fortunate their backhoe did not strike the bomb’s warhead.

Unexploded World War II ordnance can still be found across the country, particularly in areas that experienced heavy fighting or served as military encampments and garrisons during the war.

Regions such as Albay, Manila, Cebu, Zamboanga, Davao, and parts of Nueva Ecija frequently encounter old bombs being unearthed at construction sites, even 80 years after the conflict ended.

In 2017, the discovery of a 1,000-kilogram wartime bomb halted business operations at Cebu IT Park, which is Cebu’s premier business process outsourcing (BPO) hub.

Being buried underground for decades makes the detonators and explosives inside these old munitions highly unstable and sensitive to movement, Miraflor warned.

According to the CPIO, when workers encounter suspicious metal objects or unexploded shells, standard protocol requires them to stop work immediately, clear the area, and notify local police or the military’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit for safe retrieval and disposal. (PIA Bicol)