Wife lands in jail for another bomb joke

ANOTHER woman was arrested and jailed after making a bomb joke at the entrance of a government-run hospital on B. Rodriguez St., Cebu City last Monday night.

Emily Baclaan, 32, went out of the hospital with her friend to buy medicine for her husband who is undergoing a dialysis at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC).

“Nihunghung ko sa akong amiga ‘Ablihi na imong bag Ate, ipa-check up kay basin naa nay bomba’ (I whispered to my friend ‘Open your bag, let the guard check it because it might have a bomb in it’),” she said, when they were about to enter the hospital.

For making such a joke, Baclaan was arrested. She has been detained at the Fuente Police Station.

Baclaan was the sixth person to have been arrested for making bomb jokes in Cebu City for this year. Four of them were made inside malls and the other one happened in front of a school.

Cracking a bomb joke is a violation under Presidential Decree 1727, which penalizes “malicious dissemination of false information concerning bombs, explosive or any similar devices.”

Under the law, a person may be jailed for up to five years or fined a maximum of P40,000 if found guilty.

According to PO3 Lydio Libres, investigator of the Police Station 2, the hospital’s head guard expressed sympathy to Baclaan’s husband who is reportedly in critical condition.

The police, however, is still waiting for the hospital whether to file a complaint against Baclaan or not.

Baclaan hopes that she would be released from the police custody because she needs to take care of her ailing husband.

“Dako na kaayo ko’g problema kay wala nay kidney akong bana. Naglubog na siya, wala na pud koy trabaho (I’m in deep trouble right now because my husband’s kidneys are already gone. He’s bedridden and I don’t have a job),” she said.

Baclaan said she was not aware that cracking a bomb joke is a crime. She said she regretted making such a joke, and advised the public not to do it to avoid getting jailed.

The Police Station 2 arrested two other persons who made bomb jokes in two establishments near the Fuente Osmeña Rotunda.

The 19-year-old trisikad driver, who was the first person that get arrested for making a bomb threat, was released from jail after posting the P5,000 bail.