The Manila International Airport Authority on Tuesday said it was pursuing a plan to buy P486 million worth of closed-circuit TV cameras under a negotiated contract amid the rash of “bullet planting” incidents at the airport terminals.
The Airport authority clarified that an attempt to bid out the supply contract for the CCTVs in February 201 was canceled following an advisory from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines that the CCTVs should not be wireless, thus prompting MIAA to change its terms for the project.
The succeeding public bidding—officially considered the first bidding which took place in August 2014—was declared a failure after bidders didn’t meet the project’s technical requirements.
The second bidding held in February this year was also declared a failure for the same reason.
MIAA general manager Jose Angel Honrado said that he hoped to settle any misunderstanding between the bidders and the airport management.
“The MIAA has always considered the CCTV project a priority. We also wish to build strong partnerships with our contractors to guarantee the success of the project,” Honrado said.
Lawmakers including House Independent Bloc leader Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez of Leyte suggested that Naia install additional CCTV cameras to catch airport personnel allegedly involved in the (bullet-planting scam) to extort money from unsuspecting passengers.
Last month, Honrado came under fire and was asked to resign over the controversy at the airport. But he said he would not do that because he serves at the pleasure of the President.
Several groups said the recent cases of travellers being victimized by the “laglag bala” or “tanim bala” extortion syndicate has put the Philippines in the worst possible light.
“Since he took over as MIAA chief in July 2010, the country’s airport system has been plagued by poor maintenance of facilities, congested runways, rampant pilfering of baggage and lack of surveillance equipment, which have all contributed to NAIA gaining notoriety as the world’s worst airport for three consecutive years,” said overseas workers group Migrante.
Aside from the recent controversy, the group added, Honrado is also to blame for the widely criticized integration of the airport terminal fee in air tickets, which resulted in the illegal collection of the P550 fee from each outbound Filipino worker.