A male passenger of AirAsia bound for Tacloban was brought to the nearest police station on Wednesday after saying “sarap pasabugin ng eroplano n’yo.”
Based on records, the passenger was invited to the police station after making what was described as a ‘bomb joke’ — well, to me it isn’t — when he missed his flight.
The man, who went blew his top after missing his flight, was eventually blacklisted by the airline.
Fortunately, the incident did not disrupt other passengers or the airline’s operations.
PNP-Aviation Security Unit (AVSEU) officer Akpasain Norulhoda received information from a ground service agent that the passenger, a male, missed his flight, Z2 322, slated to leave Manila at around 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 25, 2023 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2.
The passenger asked an airline ground staff assigned at counter 22 what options are left for him. When told by the airline personnel that he could rebook his flight because he came late, the passenger was quoted as saying “hirap talaga maging option no? Sarap pasabugin ang airline ninyo.”
The ground staff cautioned the passenger, thus: “alam ninyo po ba na bawal iyang sinasabi mo?” to which the passenger replied, “wag mo akong maano-ano dyan ha, etong mainit ang ulo ko.”
The passenger quickly left the counter while the ground staff reported the matter to the AVSEC on duty. The PNP-AVSEU accosted the man and brought him to the nearest police station for record purposes only.
He should consider himself extremely lucky as the ground staff did not file a complaint.
The airline, however, said it blacklisted the man, meaning he can no longer board any AirAsia flight anytime in the future.
Under Presidential Decree 1727, those who make bomb jokes face an imprisonment of not more than five years and/or a fine of P40,000 at the court’s discretion.
The logic behind penalizing bomb jokes is because there is no telling what kind of reaction the passengers may take once they take the joke seriously.
The blacklisted passenger seems to be suffering from an immense sense of entitlement. He came in very late and then gets upset when told that his option was to rebook his flight? Was he actually expecting the airline to order his flight to turn around for him?
***
Members of the Manila City Hall Reporters’ Association (MACHRA) take their hats off to Sir Miguel Belmonte, Philippine Star’s big boss, for the kind of love and concern he showed to a colleague who got convicted for cyber libel recently.
Upon learning of it, Sir Miguel immediately assured our colleague of his and the company’s full support all the way, even if the case reaches the Supreme Court.
He also called up their company lawyer, with a directive to do everything possible under the law to help our beleaguered reporter-member.
This, to us, is the true measure of a good boss. He showed genuine concern for an employee who is under his care when he could just have directed the said reporter to contact the company lawyer herself.
The employees under Mr. Belmonte are truly lucky to have a boss like him. Not all media organizations have that kind of a boss.
As the popular expression goes, “sana all.”
***
DIRECT HIT entertains comments, suggestions, or complaints. Please have them emailed to [email protected] or text 0917-3132168.
