es there's no harm in throwing a joke, even if it's about a bomb. But that doesn't apply when you do that in establishments where security people are supremely cautious about terrorists attacks.

Actor John Estrada realized he made a mistake Monday morning when security at the General Santos airport didn't laugh at his joke about him carrying a bomb in his luggage.

Initial reports we gathered was that John got arrested for his "bomb joke." Soon after cracking the joke, we were told, John was taken aside for questioning, as is standard operating procedure.

His manager Douglas Quijano more or less confirmed the story to Manila Bulletin. "He called me up around 12 in the afternoon (on Monday) and told me about the incident. Hindi naman siya naaresto kasi nandito na siya sa Manila ngayon," said Quijano hours after the incident.

Quijano elaborated the episode in a laughing tone, probably because of how John put himself into trouble by just cracking a bad joke, "It's funny because I don't think he would be carrying a bomb. Anyway ang kwento niya sa akin, biniro niya ‘yung isang gwardiya who's checking the bags that ‘Pare mag-ingat ka may bomba diyan (referring to one of his bags).' The guard supposedly just did his job of making sure everything's fine kaya ayun kinapkapan siya talaga."

Estrada is reported to have flown to the Mindanao province to visit boxing star Manny Pacquaio. It is not clear, however, if it was about the southpaw's political campaign or the blessing occasion of his newly built house that he had to visit the province. He was back in Manila Monday afternoon.

"John said it was a humbling experience," Quijano said adding that John learned his lesson in that experience. The Bulletin tried to reach Estrada for comment but he wasn't answering his phone.

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Why Cesar Montano is one of the best options for the Senate

There are three reasons why actor Cesar Montano is one of the best options for the Senate. Reason No. 1: What our country needs is a senator who has a strong will to resist the temptation of money, someone who can stand up to what he believes in and fight for it; a person who can forego of the opportunity to acquire wealth for the sake of his beliefs and principles.Cesar Montano has time and again rejected offers to endorse products that he thinks are against his personal beliefs and principles (he never endorsed beers, liquors and cigarettes during his career as actor). Because of this, he has lost millions of pesos.

Reason No. 2: We all know that the administration ticket was the one who courted Cesar Montano to join them as a candidate. For obvious reasons, he is a natural crowd-drawer. Seeing it as an opportunity to serve, he grabbed the offer. If he gets elected, whether the administration supported him financially or not, he would owe them nothing. He will live up to his end of the bargain — as a crowd-drawer. His role with the Team Unity will end there. His allegiance will be intact, his allegiance will be to those who will vote for him.

Reason No. 3: You may have heard him bluntly say that he will not use his own money for his campaign. One may think that this is a sign that he is not really serious of about running, because he himself would not want to sacrifice. This is far from the truth, he said. He does not want to spend his own money so that if he wins, he will not be compelled to gain back what he has lost, Isn't this what we have so many times clamored about? Politicians who spent a lot during their campaigns and then afterwards spend their first years in their post trying to get them back, and by the time they are through, it would be election time again. A vicious cycle that Cesar would try hard to break.

By the way, If elected, Cesar would bat for more credit assistance to cooperatives by introduing a legislative measure requiring banking institutions to allocate substantial portion of their loan portfolios for cooperatives. He said he will help farmers and fishermen organize themselves into national federations of producers cooperatives.

He wants to help cooperatives because he said cooperatives are the most dominant players in the economies of some of the richest countries in Europe .

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