THE Manila International Airport Authority intensified security measures following the terrorist attacks at the Istanbul Ataturk Airport where 41 people, at least 13 of them foreigners, were killed and 230 others were injured, officials said Wednesday.
The airport agency announced the measures as the Department of Foreign Affairs said that no Filipino citizen was killed or hurt in the attack.
Security personnel strictly inspecting the luggage while passengers underwent rigid body frisking to ensure that no firearms or explosives will be brought inside the airport undetected.
Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group chief Pablo Francisco Balagtas appealed to civilians including passengers to report any unattended baggage or suspicious persons roaming inside and outside the airport.
He said the police Special Action Force with bomb sniffing dogs as well as intelligence personnel were deployed with other government agencies regarding security matters.
Balagtas said MIAA is keeping strict surveillance of passengers within the airport and implement strict car inspection.
The Airport Police Department (APD) personnel, on the other hand, manned the entrances of the airport terminals and outer perimeters.
“The APD usually takes cursory examinations of luggage in cars before waving them through,” MIAA security chief Jesus Gordon Descanzo said.
Meanwhile, the DFA said Philippine Ambassador to Turkey Rowena Sanchez said that there were no Filipinos hurt in the triple suicide bombing and gun attack at the Istanbul Ataturk Airport.
The department said there are more 4,000 Filipino workers in Turkey, living in Istanbul, most of them working as nurses, entertainers and domestic helpers.
However, the DFA said they are still gathering information from the Filipino community in Istanbul if there were any Filipinos in the area when the attack occurred.
The DFA did not issue any travel advisory to Filipinos going to Turkey but advised them to avoid any crowded areas.