Another foreigner arrested for bomb joke

Another foreign national was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Tuesday night for cracking a joke about a bomb in his luggage.

Yosef Zait, 31, was arrested but was eventually released after he apologized for his conduct.

In a report to Police Center for Aviation Services (PCAS) chief Senior Superintendent Efren Labiang, Inspector Santos Guanzon Jr. said Zait, an Israeli, was supposed to board a Thai Airways flight to Bangkok, Thailand when he was arrested by PO1 Rommel Tubania at around 7 p.m..

Guanzon said baggage inspector Arnold Marina was examining bag when he noticed that it was too heavy to be hand-carried inside the plane. Zait was advised to transfer some of the contents of the bag to his check-in luggage. When asked what the contents of his bag were, he allegedly answered "bomb."

The area supervisor at the initial screening checkpoint was immediately alerted about Zait’s statement and the bag was ordered inspected. When no bomb was found, Zait was brought to the PCAS station for investigation.The Israeli national apologized and was pardoned but was not able to board the plane.

Cracking jokes about bombs or simply uttering the word bomb at the NAIA is a criminal offense which can result in the filing of charges against those who violate the rule.

Last February, a French national and a Filipina doctor were also accosted for telling a cabin crew and a baggage inspector that they were carrying explosives in the luggage.