Airport security on Thursday night intercepted a 73-year-old American man, who was booked on a flight bound for Seoul, South Korea, after a gun was found in his luggage.
John Roney of Long Beach, California in the United States, was taken to the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office where he was detained.
According to the Police Center for Aviation Security, Roney failed to present documents showing that he could legally possess and carry the gun, a .40 caliber pistol.
The pistol was detected by the X-ray scanner at the Mactan Cebu International Airport departure terminal.
Roney was with his Cebuana wife.
The couple was supposed to go to California in a flight that will transit Seoul.
Roney said he had no intention of keeping the gun from authorities.
He said he presented documents to airport authorities to inform them of the gun in his luggage.
He said he was allowed to pass through the X-ray machine but was not briefed on the process of legally bringing a firearm to the airport.
Roney said he explained to the police that he had the handgun with him when he arrived in Cebu last year, but he was not held.
Roney said he was a former US military serviceman before he was employed by a bank.
He said he is also a lay minister of a Catholic church in the US.