Frenchman in bomb joke row faces new raps

Two months after being arrested and charged for making a bomb joke that delayed a Cebu Pacific flight, a French national faces another charge, this time involving car theft. Radio station dzXL reported Thursday that Frenchman Michel Christian Joseph Brionne was charged before the Manila prosecutor's office for failing to return a car he rented last February. It said one Grace Gabieta, owner of a rent-a-car business that lent Brionne a Toyota vehicle, lodged the charges Wednesday after Brionne failed to return it. Last February 21, airport authorities arrested Brionne for alarming the passengers and crew of a Cebu Pacific flight after allegedly joking he kept a bomb in his carry-on luggage. His fellow passengers on the Bangkok-bound flight did not find his joke funny as it caused a delay that lasted almost four hours. Brionne, 66, was charged before the Pasay City Prosecutor's Office for the remark, despite his claims he was misheard. He insisted that what he uttered was that there was a "bunch of flowers" – not a bomb – inside his bag. - GMANews.TV