The Philippine government is now coordinating with the Japanese government to conduct a thorough investigation into the hoax bomb threats received by several government agencies and local government units (LGUs) on Monday.
In a statement, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) will be requesting the Japanese government to look into the case and identify the sender.
"Efforts are now on the way to request the Japanese government to investigate thoroughly and identify the sender," the CICC said.
On Monday, at least six government agencies and LGUs received bomb threat messages prompting them to suspend their work.
Among the agencies are the Department of Education (DepEd) division office in Bataan, the local government of Iba in Zambales province, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) head office in Quezon City.
The messages came from an unknown e-mail sender, who identified himself as Takahiro Karasawa, a supposed Japanese lawyer from a certain “Steadiness Law Office,” and a highly knowledgeable bomb-maker.
In the said email, Karasawa emphasized that bombs would rock major Philippine government agencies on February 12, 2024, at approximately 3:34 PM.
The CICC said the email received apparently containing the bomb threats originated from Japan. It had a locally registered domain name that also hit multiple government agencies in Seoul, South Korea.
