‘There’s also a bomb! Joke, joke, joke!’

A bomb joke blew up in the face of a Japan-bound woman who was arrested on Tuesday morning after she allegedly said the “B” word while checking in at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).

Nancy Ebata, 27, a resident of Caloocan City, was charged in the Department of Justice for violating Presidential Decree 1727 or the Anti-Bomb Joke Law. She remains in the custody of the Aviation Security Unit National Capital Region (Avseu-NCR).

A report from the Avseu-NCR said that around 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Ebata checked in for her flight to Haneda at a Philippine Airlines counter in Naia Terminal 2.

She presented her travel documents to customer service agent Leonardo Mendina Jr. and then placed her baggage on the conveyor.

When asked by Mendina if there was anything fragile in her bag, she replied: “Just my friend’s trinkets. There’s also a bomb! Joke, joke, joke!”

The Avseu-NCR report said that Mendina immediately informed Ebata that it was against the law to make bomb jokes inside the airport before he reported the incident to his manager.

While PD 1727 is a 35-year-old law and generally refers to spreading false information about explosives or any other means of destruction, bomb jokes have been explicitly banned in the country’s airports since 2006.

Violators face a five-year jail term and a P40,000 fine.