Man held for MRT bomb joke

MANILA, Philippines - A 23-year-old man was arrested after he cracked a bomb joke at the Metro Rail Transit’s Quezon Avenue station Wednesday morning, an official said yesterday.

Patrick Cabrera told a female guard to be careful in checking his bag as a bomb inside might explode, Police Officer 1 Mark Jason Gapol of the Kamuning police station said.

The bag did not contain explosives, he added.

Gapol said Cabrera was held at the police station for violating Presidential Decree 1727, the anti-bomb joke law.

A Department of Transportation and Communications representative visited Cabrera at the police station.

No charges were filed against Cabrera, but he was told to do eight hours of community service at the Quezon Avenue station.

He was freed after he completed the community service.