Philippine airports on alert after Moscow airport blast

MANILA, Philippines - Security has been tightened at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminals and other airports in the country after the terror attack at the airport in Russia that left 35 people dead and scores of passengers wounded.

Aviation police deputy chief Senior Superintendent Manuel Pintado of the lst Police Center for Aviation Security (PCAS) ordered the deployment of K-9 units and other civilian personnel to conduct profiling and keep a tight watch on the terminals.

Pintado said all incoming vehicles are also subject to thorough inspection.

Aviation police officials deployed bomb-sniffing dogs at the airport curbside where passengers are let off.

Security staff had been ordered to be more stringent during inspections.

A suicide bomber was blamed for the attack last Monday at the Domodedovo, Moscow’s busiest airport.

No one claimed responsibility for the blast although Islamic militants in the southern Russian region of Chechnya have been blamed for previous attacks in Moscow, including a double suicide bombing on the capital’s subway system in March 2010 that resulted in 40 deaths.

It was the second time in seven years that Domodedovo airport was involved in a terrorist attack.

In 2004, two female suicide bombers penetrated the lax security there, illegally bought tickets from airport personnel and boarded planes that exploded in flight and killed 90 people.

Pintado said they are trying to prevent non-passengers from loitering at the curbside at NAIA, the area where relatives send off passengers.

He said the curbside “is the weakest link in securing the airport,” since terrorists could stage their attack from the area.

Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) general manager Jose Angel Honrado assured the public that tighter security measures are already in place.

He objected to the suggestion of limiting access to the airport’s curbside.