An airport employee now faces legal charges after a careless comment about a supposed explosive set off an emergency response at Cauayan Airport in Isabela last Friday, with police taking him into custody near the terminal entrance.
Investigators say the trouble began as the worker approached the airport, when he told those around him, “There was a bomb inside the rear compartment of my car.” The remark was made in jest but was treated as a genuine threat by security staff on the ground.
Officers from the PNP Aviation Security Group moved in quickly, calling on the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team and K9 handlers to examine the vehicle in question. After combing through the car, the responding units found no explosives and no dangerous substances of any kind.
The clean inspection did not spare the employee from prosecution. He was taken into custody for a supposed breach of Presidential Decree No. 1727, the measure widely referred to as the Anti-Bomb Joke Law, which penalizes false alarms of this nature regardless of intent.
Under that decree, spreading a false report of an explosive device carries criminal liability even when no actual danger exists—a standard that applies squarely to the worker’s case as authorities prepare the paperwork for the charges he will face.
