A RANKING airport official was sacked amid the controversy over the planting of bullets in the luggages of passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Aviation Security Group-National Capital Region head Senior Supt. Ricardo Layug Jr. has been relieved and replaced by former Las Piñas City police chief Senior Supt. Adolfo Samala, according to Avsegroup director Chief Supt. Pablo Francis Balagtas.
At the same time, the Senate committee on public service has set an inquiry into the bullet-planting incidents at the Naia on Thursday, according to Senator Serge Osmeña III.
The Senate probe is set at 10 a.m. with Osmeña inviting Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya and Manila International Airport Authority general manager Jose Angel Honrado.
Osmeña said he would also invite the supposed bullet-planting victims that increased from only 12 in 2014 to 115 cases this year as well as the Aviation Security Group to shed lights on the controversy.
Balagtas did not explain why Layug was replaced but he said the move was just part of the “rotation process” of the Philippine National Police under the leadership of its director Ricardo Marquez.
He also clarified that Layug’s relief doesn’t necessarily mean he is involved in the alleged extortion and other irregulatities happening in the airports. There were reports that Layug is going on study leave.
Last month, two other Avsegroup personnel – Careen De Padua and Rommel Ballesteros – were relieved from their post after the bullet in the investigation report on the case of an overseas Filipino worker did not match the one presented before the Pasay City prosecutors office.
The two police officers were the ones who handled the case of 56-year-old Gloria Ortinez, who was placed under airport police custody, for allegedly bringing a bullet at the airport. Ortinez was about to take a connecting flight from Laoag Airport to Hong Kong on Oct. 25 when she was apprehended.
The Office of Transportation Security, meanwhile, relieved and placed 15 personnel under restricted status pending the ongoing investigation initiated by the Department of Transportation and Communications on the controversy.
Abaya earlier said there is no syndicate at the NAIA and reports about planting bullets in the luggage of passengers have been blown out of proportion.
“It appears that the cases have been blown out of proportion. Let us be mindful that when allegation cast aspersions on all, it is not far-fetched to think that some of those tasked with our security will suffer from lower morale. This will be a disservice to all,” he said in a press conference.”
But initial probe conducted by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation, who also stepped into the case upon the directive of the Department of Justice, said there is indeed a syndicate involved in the incidents.
OTS chief Rolando Secomono said his office already formed a team to conduct a thorough investigation on the controversy.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice has dismissed the criminal charge against one of the individuals arrested at the Naia for alleged possession of bullets.
A two-page resolution, the DOJ through Pasay City Prosecutor Nolasco Fernandez Jr. dropped the complaint for illegal possession of ammunition filed by the Aviation Security Group against 72-year-old Antonina Agustin.
The resolution cited the lack of criminal intent in Agustin fs possession of 9mm and .38-caliber bullets in her luggage.
During inquest proceedings, Agustin admitted to investigating prosecutor that the bullets seized from her really belonged to her but explained that they served as amulets to protect her from sickness wherever she goes.
Agustin was about to meet her niece scheduled to arrive from Dubai when she was held for questioning by the police at the airport when the x-ray scan showed she was carrying the bullets inside her shoulder bag.
Agustin was assisted by a lawyer from Public Attorneys office during the proceedings. With the dismissal of the charge, the prosecutor ordered her immediate release from police custody.
Chief Public Attorney Persida Rueda-Acosta, who has provided legal assistance to persons arrested in the NAIA for possession of bullets, welcomed the development and said it could benefit other passengers or individuals caught in the same situation asӬ Agustin fs.
“There is really no criminal intent of ill possession if the bullets were found outside the body,” Acosta said.
Acosta said their public attorneys in Pasay City have asked the city prosecutor to dismiss the similar charges filed by the ASG against their other indigent clients.