Friday, August 03, 2007 Court drops case vs. prankster
AFTER everything was said and done, businessman Marcelo Galang – whose joke of a bomb being on his clutch bag caused a taxiing Cebu Pacific airplane to return to the terminal, making every other passenger miss their schedule – had the last laugh.
The Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) in Lapu-Lapu City dismissed the June 26, 2007 complaint lodged against him by the airport police.
P40T
In a single-page order earlier this week, Judge Ester Veloso granted the Quezon City-based busi-nessman’s motion to quash information, filed through lawyer Richard Sison, and had his cash bail bond of P40,000 returned.
Had the Philippine Center for Aviation Security (PCAS) and the Office of the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor done their homework, Galang wouldn’t have anything to laugh about.
Sison narrated how the indictment against his client was for violation of Presidential Decree 1727.
Malicious
The act outlaws “willfully (making) any threats or maliciously conveys, communicates, transmits, imparts, passes on, or otherwise disseminates false information concerning an attempt or alleged attempt being made to kill, injure or intimidate any individual or unlawfully to damage or destroy any building, vehicle or other real or personal property by means of explosives, incendiary devices and other destructive forces.”
He said the Office of the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor indeed accused Galang of maliciously“ spreading false information that he was carrying a bomb.
But the affidavit of cabin attendant Dianne Lesley Tagimacruz Mag-tulis didn’t support it.
Instead, the attendant admitted sensing that Galang was only joking as the plane taxied for its flight to Iloilo City that day and that her move to report the matter to her lead attendant was mere procedure.
Regular court
Even if the allegation was true, PCAS and the prosecution service still erred in lodging the complaint before the regular court.
Sison said PD 1727 is a military crime and provides: “The offender shall be arrested by means of an Arrest Search and Seizure Order (Asso) and shall not be entitled to bail pending trial by the military tribunals or military courts which shall have exclusive jurisdiction over cases involving any violation of the provisions of this decree.” (KNR)
