DAVAO CITY — A 28-year-old woman caused flight delay at Francisco Bangoy International Airport after she allegedly dropped a bomb joke inside an airplane on Tuesday night.
This was bared by Police Regional Office (PRO)11 spokesperson Chief Insp. Andrea dela Cerna during Wednesday’s AFP-PNP Press Corps briefing at the Royal Mandaya Hotel.
A police report identified the suspect as Blanca A. Pulvera, 28, a resident of Mabini, Compostela Valley Province.
Dela Cerna said Pulvera was inside Cebu Pacific flight 5J970 bound for Manila when she made the joke at around 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
This prompted the airport officials to disembark from the plane to give the Philippine National Police (PNP) explosive ordnance division and Aviation Security Unit (AVSEU) 11 to conduct search inside the aircraft.
“Nagkaroon talaga ng delay sa flight (There was a delay of flight that time),” Dela Cerna said.
Dela Cerna reminded the public that bomb joke is prohibited and penalized under Presidential 1727 “Declaring as Unlawful the Malicious of False Information of the Willful Making of Any Threat Concerning Bombs, Explosives or Any Similar Device or Means of Destruction and Imposing Penalties.”
Under the law, any violators who will be found guilty will suffer up to five years of imprisonment and P40,000 fine.
“Para hindi tayo makaabala, huwag tayong magbibiro ng hindi maganda especially bomb jokes (To avoid making inconvenience to other people, we should not make bad jokes expecially bomb jokes), ” she said. (Armando Fenequito Jr/PNA)
