COPS ARREST MAN CARRYING GRENADE AT MRT 3 STATION
A week after the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 management lifted its ban on liquids, a man claiming to be the brother of an Army soldier was arrested at the Araneta Center-Cubao station for carrying a grenade.
Christian Guzman would be charged with illegal possession of explosives—a nonbailable offense—as well as violation of the Omnibus Election Code, said Senior Supt. Giovanni Hycenth Caliao, Cubao police station chief.
MRT 3 security guards told the police that they detected the hand grenade, wrapped in brown packaging tape and placed inside a cell phone box, after the 29-year-old suspect’s bag passed through the X-ray machine at the Cubao station around 7:10 p.m. on Saturday.
Guzman claimed that he meant to return it to his brother, a certain Pfc. Alvin Guzman, who was reportedly with the Army’s commission on electronics unit, Caliao said.
The Army did not respond to the Inquirer’s inquiry about the suspect’s alleged brother.
Suspect’s explanation
“[Guzman] said they had a drunkard father who often boasted about having the grenade inside their house, so he wanted to return it to his brother to keep them from harm,” Caliao said. “Why he rode the MRT 3 to do that was beyond us.”
He added that at the moment, they found no reason to suspect Guzman had bad intentions. “The bomb division assessed that while the grenade was live, it was secured [in such a way] that it would be difficult to detonate it,” Caliao said.
The MRT 3, along with the Light Rail Transit Lines 1 and 2, earlier imposed a liquids ban after the Jolo cathedral bombings.