Foreigner held for Kalibo airport ‘bomb joke’

BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

Bomb jokes are not funny after security personnel arrested a foreigner inside the Kalibo International Airport (KIA) for allegedly cracking a bomb joke on June 21.

Italian national Christiano de Angeles had found himself in a difficult situation after he told a check-in counter agent of AirAsia that his carry-on baggage contained a ‘bomb’ at around 12:40 p.m.

Angeles said he casually mentioned ‘books’ not ‘bomb’ when a female airline staff asked him what was inside his bag.

“I don’t said anything, any false information or joke. It just books in the bag. After that, they allowed me to proceed to the boarding area,” he stressed.

Security officials approached him and then inspected his baggage but no bomb or explosives were found inside it. 

The 40-year old foreigner was prevented from boarding a domestic flight, the police said. He was escorted out of Kalibo airport and turned-over to KIA Aviation Security Group (Avseu) for investigation.  

If found guilty, a violator faces P40,000 fine and a five-year imprisonment for violating Presidential Degree 1727 or the “Anti-Bomb Joke Law”.

The article was originally published by independent online blog Aklan Forum Journal. The unrestricted use in print or radio, publication and distribution of articles are allowed provided the original author and Aklan Forum Journal are credited.