A female passenger was arrested at Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport in Tacloban City on August 31, 2026, after allegedly claiming her missing laptop contained a bomb while aboard a Manila-bound flight.
The incident unfolded in the aircraft’s galley when the passenger requested assistance from the cabin crew to retrieve her laptop, which she had accidentally left in the terminal’s departure area.
Flight crew coordinated with ground staff, who located the laptop and brought it back to the aircraft.
However, when an airline passenger agent asked the woman to open the device for standard verification before handing it over, she allegedly replied in the local dialect, “Ay, may bomba ’yan”
Aviation security personnel immediately implemented safety protocols and placed the passenger under arrest.
Officers apprised her of her constitutional rights under the Miranda Doctrine before taking her into custody.
The PNP Aviation Security Group (AVSEGROUP) is preparing formal criminal charges against the passenger for violating Presidential Decree No. 1727, commonly known as the Anti-Bomb Joke Law.
Police Brigadier General Dionisio B. Bartolome Jr., Director of PNP AVSEGROUP, reiterated that all bomb threats or jokes are taken seriously, warning that authorities will act decisively to safeguard public safety and aviation security.
