Cellphone technician nabbed for bomb joke at MRT station

A cellphone technician who was frustrated with the stifling heat and his personal issues added to his woes after police arrested him for cracking a bomb joke at the MRT's Guadalupe station Tuesday.

According to Oscar Oida's report on 24 Oras, 36-year-old Darcy Perodes was nabbed by the police after he made the ill-timed joke just as security guard Marichu Camacho was inspecting his bag.

"Pinalagay ko po yung mga gamit niya sa ibabaw ng mesa po para mai-check po ng maayos. E ngayon, sabi niya, wala naman pong bomba. Sabi ko, saglit lang sir, hindi mo po alam siguro pinagsasabi mo, kaya po hinold ko siya," Camacho recalled.

Perodes claimed that he cracked the joke out of frustration with a personal problem and the scorching heat at the station.

"Sorry po talaga. Pasensya na po kayo," he tearfully pleaded.

MRT station division chief Engineer Oscar Dongon explained that bomb jokes may endanger the lives of passengers even if they are made without any ill intent.

"Ang MRT po ay iisang mass transport system at ang dami po nating pasahero at kung iba ang pagkakaintindi ng mga tao, pupwede po tayong magka-stampede at nalalagay po sa alanganin ang kaligtasan ng ating mga pasahero," Dongon said.

Perodes is the fourth person arrested this year at an MRT station for making a bomb joke.

Officials have repeatedly asked the public to refrain from making dangerous jokes in the past and have put up posters at stations warning passengers from inciting panic. —Rie Takumi/NB, GMA News