By Vir B. Lumicao
If you intend to joke about carrying a bomb in your luggage,
think again.
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| Departure gates at HK Intl Airport |
An elderly Filipino tourist missed his scheduled flight back
to Manila on Saturday night, Oct 8, after he was arrested for allegedly
cracking a joke about having a bomb in his hand-carried luggage.
Not only that, he will have to remain in Hong Kong until his
next hearing date more than a month away.
The 67-year-old defendant, surnamed Cano, appeared in Kowloo City court earlier today, Oct. 10, charged with communicating false
information.
Magistrate Veronica Heung who presided over the special
half-day session because of the Chung Yeung festival, allowed Cano to post
$1,000 bail, but ordered him to remain in Hong Kong until his next court
appearance on Nov. 21.
While waiting for his next hearing date, Cano will live in a
shelter provided by the Consulate.
The defendant and his family, including his wife who is a
cancer patient, two daughters and a grandson, had just taken their seats in a Cebu Pacific plane bound for Manila when he reportedly quipped that there was a bomb in his
luggage.
A Filipino airline staff who heard what Cano had said informed
airport security, which proceeded to arrest the defendant and offload the rest
of his family.
A daughter of the defendant told The SUN the family had just
ended a five-day holiday in Hong Kong and were about to return to Manila when
the incident happened.
“Maliit lang naman na bagay iyon,” she said. (Read the full report in the next issue of The SUN)
