Sun.Star: Trader's bomb joke delays Cebu flight

Aviation security officials in Cebu were hardly amused as they held a trader who joked that he tucked a small bomb into his clutch bag. Sun.Star Cebu reported Wednesday that trader Marcelo Galang of Quezon City was arrested and charged after making the prank. Worse, his act delayed the flight of the passengers including incoming vice mayor Carlo Fortuna, who described what happened as a "bad joke and a hard lesson for him (Galang)." Galang's claim to the crew of Cebu Pacific prompted the Philippine Center for Aviation Security (PCAS) to arrest him and charge him before the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor's Office. Superintendent Elias Abad Jr of the PCAS Central Visayas said the joke delayed the flight that was about to take off for Iloilo City Tuesday morning. However, Abad said he believes that Galang was simply joking and was unaware that he already committed a crime. "I think it was a lapse on Galang's part," he said. Danilo Augusto Francia, general manager of the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA), said security enforcers learned through their own inquiry that Galang's joke alarmed the pilot and the crew. Crewmember Diane Magtulis immediately reported the matter to the pilot, who at that time was taxiing moments before the 8 a.m. flight to Iloilo. As part of procedure, the aircraft crew aborted the flight. Francia said all passengers had to go back to the airport terminal while the aircraft and cargo were inspected by security personnel and sniffer dogs. The plane was finally allowed to leave for Iloilo City at 10 a.m., leaving Galang behind. Abad said Galang was escorted to the City Prosecutor's Office Tuesday afternoon and was charged with violation of Presidential Decree 1727. PCAS and Cebu Pacific jointly filed the complaint. Should he be found guilty, Galang could be jailed for five years or fined P40,000 or both, at the discretion of the court. Following the incident, Abad said airport security will put up notices in strategic areas of the airport such as the boarding gates, informing the public that joking about bomb threats is a crime. On March 2, 2005, the pilot of a Manila-bound Cebu Pacific flight from Davao City made an emergency landing at the Mactan Airport after the airline office received a text message that a bomb was stuffed inside a lechon (roast pig). No explosive was found inside the lechon (roasted pig), but the incident alarmed the 78 passengers and crewmembers on board the aircraft. A Cebu Pacific flight bound for Manila was also delayed for hours on Jan. 23, 2003, after a Cebu City resident joked that his bag contained a bomb. - GMANews.TV