By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

A priest was temporarily detained at Dumaguete Airport by members of the Philippine National Police-Aviation Security Group (PNP-AVSEGROUP) after allegedly making a bomb joke while inside a parked plane.

Police refused to name the 69-year-old clergyman.

Based on information provided by the Dumaguete City PNP-AVSEGROUP office, the priest was aboard an 11:00 a.m. Philippine Airlines flight bound for Manila when one of the flight attendants, identified as Tejan Canoneo, asked the passenger to place a food package underneath the seat in front of him, but the priest initially refused.

Canoneo noted the priest later replied, “Don’t be alarmed, it’s only food, not a bomb.”

The flight attendant immediately notified his supervisor and the pilots of Canoneo’s statement, which was later transmitted to air traffic control and police assistance was requested.

Airport operations were suspended and passengers were immediately evacuated from the aircraft for police inspection; while the priest, Canoneo, and his supervisor were called in for questioning by police and officials from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).

The inspection later turned up negative for explosives.

Investigators clarified, while the priest did not make a bomb joke, he still violated RA 9497, or the Civil Aviation Authority Act of 2008, for refusing to obey safety instructions provided by aircraft cabin crew.

Operations at Dumaguete Airport later resumed around 3:05 p.m., while the priest was later released by police and rebooked on a Cebu Pacific flight following the incident.

Under Presidential Decree 1727, anyone caught making bomb jokes faces a P40,000 fine, a five-year prison sentence, or both./DGB, WDJ