No one laughed when a man joked about a bomb right after boarding a plane in Manila Friday. Instead, authorities forced him out of the plane and into detention.
Bernabe Cuello, 56, was offloaded PAL Express flight 2P967 bound for Butuan City after he said in jest that a bomb might have been placed underneath the plane
“The passenger has been offloaded and is still under investigation,” NAIA Terminal 3 manager Octavio Lina told Yahoo! Southeast Asia via phone.
He refused to give further details on the probe, which he said has been turned over to the Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group.
Reports however said the incident stalled the flight, which had to be searched for bombs via bomb-sniffing dogs. All the passengers and cargo also reportedly had to be unloaded.
False information about bombs or any similar means of destruction, even when made in jest is punishable under Marcos-issued Presidential Decree No. 1727 in 1980.
“[S]uch acts and activities of the radical and lawless elements, and other persons pose a grave and positive danger to public safety and security,” the law says.
A person convicted under the so-called “Anti-Bomb Joke Law” may be fined not more than P40,000 or imprisoned for a maximum of five years.
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