Cebu Pac flight delayed over 'watusi' discussion

A conversation between two male passengers aboard Cebu Pacific flight 5J486 from Bacolod-Silay Airport led to a delay and offloading of all passengers after crew members overheard them discussing 'watusi', which is slang for condom but also resembles a firecracker, raising security concerns on Saturday morning, October 19.

Major Deejay Domingo of the Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group confirmed that no charges will be filed against the two passengers as they did not violate the bomb joke law and were just misinterpreted by the airline.

As a precautionary measure, all passengers and cargo were removed from the plane for a K9 bomb-sniffing inspection and security screening at 1:00 p.m., but the aircraft was later cleared by authorities and resumed its flight to Manila without further incident.

Cebu Pacific staff helped rebook the two passengers on an afternoon flight to complete their journey, while the CAAP clarified that 'watusi' refers to a condom in LGBTQ community language and apologized for any confusion.