MALACAÑANG downplayed on Friday the existence of a syndicate planting bullets in the luggage of passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport even as lawmakers from both houses of Congress urged separate investigations into the matter.
“We have to put this in the right context,” said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. “Thousands [of passengers] are using the airport terminals [each day] and only a few were found in possession of bullets. All of these incidents are being investigated based on law.”
“And authorities recognize the human rights as well as legal rights of those [found] carrying [bullets],” Coloma said.
But swelling complaints about security arrangements at the Naia have led lawmakers, led by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., to push for a congressional investigation of the matter.
“The police can easily trace the movement of personal luggage and identify all who had access and chance to plant it,” Belmonte told The Standard in a text message, adding that these personnel should be removed along with the examiners.
“In other countries, personal luggage are not even inspected,” Belmonte pointed out.
Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III said security officials at the Naia have no business being at the front line in public service.
“We should not tolerate these kinds of people committing illegal acts and victimizing innocent individuals, like an [overseas Filipino worker],” Albano said.
In the Senate, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago called on her colleagues to investigate the scandal, citing an online petition signed by 12,000 Filipinos.
Santiago filed Senate Resolution No. 1635 amid reports that airport security personnel are involved in an extortion scam wherein bullets are planted in the luggage of passengers, who are later asked huge amounts of cash under threat of being charged in court.
“The reports highlight how corruption defeats the purpose of law enforcement. Second, they raise a legitimate question on the implementation of the law on the illegal possession of ammunition. Finally, they underline inaction on the part of government,” the senator said.
The media has so far reported six cases using the modus operandi. The latest victims are Gloria Ortinez, an OFW bound for Hong Kong, and Japanese national Kazunobu Sakamoto, who were both arrested on Oct. 25. Only Sakamoto was able to post bail for P80,000.
“The perpetrators of the alleged scam are brazen, perhaps because they know they will not be punished. We must prove them wrong,” Santiago said in a response to the signature campaign on online petition platform Change.org.
Santiago condemned how the extortion scam targets OFWs who see airports as their connection to home. “Wrongly accusing OFWs of a crime and forcing them to pay huge amounts of cash is not the way to repay those whom we call our modern-day heroes,” the senator said.
She added that the scandal might impact Philippine tourism, a major job-generating industry, by sowing fear among foreigners using Philippine airports and eroding public trust in law enforcers.
Senator Ralph Recto, on the other hand, called for the establishment of a presidential action and complaint desk at the NAIA.
“This is a large constituency which can neither be ignored nor denied of service,” stressed Recto who is seeking a fresh mandate in the coming elections.
Recto said the “one-stop, on-the-spot troubleshooting center” for OFWs and other travellersncan also serve as a place where travelers can lodge complaints for bad service and recommend commendations for good ones.
He identified an existing Palace office – the Presidential Action Center (PACE) – which could establish “a detachment” at NAIA and other international airports.
But Coloma said there are already airport officials who are doing the same service at the NAIA terminals, and expressed these are not needed anymore.
“There are public assistance desks already (in the airport terminals). If there are other proposals being made by our lawmakers, let us wait for these,” said Coloma.
