Woman, daughter detained at NAIA over bomb joke

MANILA, Philippines - Police at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 yesterday stopped a woman and her daughter from boarding their flight to Milan after the woman joked about a bomb in their luggage during the final inspection. 

Police Superintendent Manuel Pintado of 1st Police Center for Aviation Security (PCAS) said Zenaida Sangalang, a 42-year-old waitress in Milan and her 14-year-old daughter were apprehended after their luggage had passed the x-ray machines.

Tarcila Lubis, a frisker from the Office of Transportation Security (OTS) asked Sangalang about the contents of her luggage because it appeared dark on the x-ray monitor.

Without blinking, Sangalang said: “May bomba dyan (There’s a bomb there).” 

Sangalang and her 14-year-old daughter were taken to the PCAS for questioning and luggage inspection and stopped from boarding their KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight. 

Cracking a bomb joke is punishable by five years’ imprisonment and bail as high as P20,000.