All security personnel at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport have been ordered not to use mobile phones and other personal gadgets while on duty.
Manila International Airport Authority general manager Eddie Monreal came up with the directive in line with the heightened security measures being enforced in the four terminals of the Naia in light of the threat posed by members of the extremist Maute group.
“Be vigilant and let’s do this in all areas—parking, arrival, lobby, departure, check-in, immigration, boarding, waiting and greeting areas. We must have roving organic and security personnel,” he said.
On May 23, the Maute group attacked Marawi City resulting in the declaration of Martial Law in Mindanao.
The MIAA is closely coordinating with the Philippine National Police-Aviation Security Group and the Office for Transportation Security in imposing measures to ensure the safety of passengers and airport personnel.
Security personnel strictly inspected the luggages while passengers underwent rigid body frisking to ensure that no firearms or explosives are brought inside the airport undetected.
Monreal appealed to civilians including passengers to report any unattended baggage or suspicious persons roaming inside and outside the airport.
He said Avsegroup policemen with bomb sniffing dogs as well as intelligence personnel were deployed with other government agencies as part of the security measures.
The airport authority is likewise keeping strict surveillance of passengers within the airport and implement strict car inspection.
The Airport Police Department 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,” a MIAA security official said.
On Friday, Transportation Secretary Arturo Tugade ordered his key officials to put in place heightened security measures in all transport hubs in the country, and emphasized that public safety is the topmost priority of his administration.
He also stressed the need for consistent visibility of security personnel in transport facilities to prevent untoward incidents and to deter lawless elements from conducting activities detrimental to passengers.
Tugade likewise underscored the need for all security personnel to always be on alert and adopt the “buddy system” while roving.
Last year, the MIAA forged an agreement with the International Criminal Police Organization to strengthen border control which is part of an intensified international campaign against illegal trafficking of nuclear and radioactive materials.
The exercise, dubbed Operation Conduit, involved the use of specialized portable radiation detection equipment of the Interpol placed at passenger movement areas at Terminal 3—including the screening checkpoints and the immigration area.
These devices trigger an alarm if passers-by are positive of radioactive material.
A mobile facial recognition system was also set up which identifies people involved in nuclear trafficking or with cases recorded in the Interpol database.
Results of the operation showed that no baggage or passenger was found to be with radioactive material. Training was also provided to local enforcement agencies involved in airport operations on nuclear trafficking and coordination procedures in such cases.
