A 19-year-old vlogger from Oton admitted sending a hoax bomb threat to Oton National High School, adding to a wave threats that disrupted Iloilo.
Investigators reported that the teenager, a resident of Barangay Poblacion East who manages a social media page with around 58,000 followers, copied a bomb threat first sent to a school in Calinog, edited it, and forwarded it to the high school.
Police traced the message to him and brought him to the Oton Municipal Police Station on the afternoon of November 24.
Officers said he works as a jeepney dispatcher and is no longer enrolled in school.
Iloilo police chief Colonel Bayani Razalan said that the teen had difficulty comprehending questions during the inquiry.
He also noted that the boy’s older sister had to clarify his responses because he struggled to explain himself.
According to Razalan, the teen appeared easily provoked and tended to follow suggestions without fully understanding the consequences.
Police said the teen’s act aligns with the broader pattern they observed in Iloilo’s recent bomb scares.
Between November 12 and 20, the Iloilo Police Provincial Office recorded 27 bomb threats involving 23 schools, a barangay hall, and a town plaza.
Several messages contained similar wording and structure, indicating that multiple individuals simply recycled and forwarded existing threats.
The hoaxes forced schools to evacuate students, halt classes, and divert police teams from their regular duties, placing strain on local responders.
Reymund Titong is a Filipino journalist steadily building his voice in the field of news reporting, driven by a commitment to tell meaningful and relevant stories.
He serves as a correspondent for Rappler, maintains a personal blog on Medium, and is the communications officer of Hope Builders Organization Negros Island.