Vietnamese nabbed with bullet

MANILA, Philippines – A Vietnamese businesswoman who accompanied a departing relative was arrested after members of the Office for Transportation Security (OTS) detected a caliber .357 bullet in her shoulder bag last Saturday night at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.

The OTS and the police Aviation Security Group (ASG) have also assured the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) of full cooperation in the investigation of the laglag-bala or bullet planting extortion incidents at the airport.

The ASG identified the Vietnamese as My Nguyen, 30, who was just escorting a departing relative at the NAIA 3 when OTS screeners detected the bullet in her bag after she passed through the initial security check near the airport lobby.

Airport authorities have allowed limited number of people to escort departing passengers up to the check-in counters at the NAIA 3.

Nguyen was subjected yesterday to inquest proceedings at the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office, during which she admitted that the caliber .357 bullet was hers.

She told Prosecutor Michael Vito Cruz that a customer in her ready-to-wear (RTW) shop gave her the bullet as a “good luck charm.”

Nguyen is facing a case in violation of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Law on Firearms and Ammunition.

Full cooperation

ASG chief Director Francisco Pablo Balagtas said yesterday that the agency was cooperating 100 percent with the NBI tasked by President Aquino to investigate the alleged extortion scam.

Balagtas said the ASG also wants to unmask the personnel responsible for the scheme to end the scandal affecting not only airport employees but also the country.

He said that he would reshuffle his personnel so that “there will be no familiarization or camaraderie among personnel assigned at the initial and final security check at the NAIA terminals.”

Balagtas is also coordinating with the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Airline Operators Council (AOC) regarding the safety of all airplane passengers.

He said in cooperation with the airport police department, they would dispatch several bomb-sniffing dogs in the sensitive areas of the airport especially at the bag handling section.

Aircraft Operations Division (AOD) of the BOC said that they were instructed to double their effort in inspecting and monitoring arriving and departing goods before these are loaded/unloaded in an aircraft.

Rudy Tan Jr. and Eric Manalansan, both AOD security guards, said that their job consists of boarding formalities, cargo monitoring and aircraft search of all arriving and departing aircraft at the NAIA Terminal 1.