This afternoon our Campus Maintenance Office hotline received a text message allegedly from the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) claiming they had placed bombs in UP Diliman and that these would explode after 3:30 pm (“naglagay kami ng maga [sic] bomba na naka2lat sa UP Diliman.  SDa2bog ang ito pagkatapos ng pagda2sl naming ng 3:30 PM.”)  The message claimed this was to take revenge (“bilng gnti”) for attacks in Patikul, Sulu.

Our Chief Security Officer and disaster response team see it as a hoax. Contrary to rumors, the administration have neither cancelled classes nor ordered evacuations as they would only encourage more pranksters.

Nonetheless, we are not taking chances and have ordered our security forces to be on full alert for the next few days. Staff have also been instructed to be on the lookout for suspicious-looking bags or packages, which will be turned over to bomb disposal squads if needed.

We will continue to be on alert with or without bomb threats given the tense situation with the ASG.

September 1, 2016, 6 p.m.

Michael L. Tan

Chancellor