The airport authority is deploying more personnel to all screening checkpoints at the Ninoy Aquino International Airports following reports that some foreigners do not observe proper queuing at NAIA Terminal 3.
Manila International Airport Authority general manager Eddie Monreal said the airport management had asked the Office for Transportation Security to designate queuing officers at all screening checkpoints in the NAIA Terminals.
The move came after Civil Service Commission commissioner Aileen Lizada lodged a complaint with the MIAA claiming “Chinese-looking” passengers “did not queue properly crossing through the different lanes by passing under the cordons intended to put order in the lines.”
But MIAA stated that when it asked Lizada if the subject group of “Chinese passengers” breached final security screening protocol, she was “quick to admit that the passengers were screened and therefore did not breach security screening procedure.”
Monreal said he viewed initial closed circuit television camera footage copies of the incident where Lizada was seen to be talking to an OTS screener and supervisor, bringing the matter to their attention.
“We assured Commissioner Lizada that CCTV footages covering all angles of the incident will be shared as requested by her,” said Monreal.
The airport authority earlier clarified that there was no breach in security screening procedure happened at the terminal.
“While the MIAA welcomes public notice, we will appreciate if such reports validated and verified first before being blasted to the media, so as to avoid confusion and undue sentiments from the public,” said Monreal.
“As public servants, our ultimate concern is to serve the Filipino people through efficient provision of government services. We are, after all, under one government with a singular goal of bettering the lives of our countrymen,” he added.
In October last year, a controversy happened at the airport involving ACTS-OFW Party List Rep. Aniceto Bertiz III who violated security protocol by not removing his shoes during the passenger screening process at the NAIA Terminal 2.
Bertiz was asked to remove his shoes by an OTS screening security officer manning the final security check prior to his departure but failed to follow protocol.
Just like Lizada, Bertiz also claimed that “a group of Chinese-looking” passengers escorted by airport staff had breezed through and did not undergo the same security protocols that everybody else had to go through.”
But the MIAA officials reviewed the closed-circuit television camera footage of the incident and saw nothing irregular.
Bertiz came under fire from netizens after photos and video footages of the incident went viral on social media. He later made a public apology, saying he has no intention of harming, and his actions in the airport were totally uncalled for.