NBI arrests man for threatening to bomb Comelec office

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested Gian Carlo Dela Cruz Maningo on May 14 in Mandaue City for allegedly threatening to bomb the Commission on Elections (Comelec) central office.

Justice Undersecretary Nicolas Ty informed the NBI Central Visayas Regional Office director about threatening posts made by a Facebook user named 'Gi Maningo', which garnered over 120 shares and several comments.

Maningo was arrested at his residence in Casili Hills, Mandaue City without resistance and admitted ownership of the account where he offered PHP5 million to anyone willing to plant and detonate a bomb at Comelec sites.

The Threat Monitoring Center first detected the malicious post on May 5 which remained online through election day before it was flagged and traced by the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) Threat Monitoring Center, PNP-ACG, and NBI.

He faces charges under Presidential Decree No. 1727 for making a bomb threat, Republic Act No. 11479 (Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020), and the Cybercrime Prevention Act.