Gamblers, loan sharks, SIM card peddlers invade NAIA

Despite having consecutively passed security audits by the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and the International Civil Aviation Organization, the country’s premier airport could still be at risk from a different kind of threat.

Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Edgardo Manda revealed that the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is currently being used by persons who offer illegal gambling services to arriving passengers.

Apart from illegal gambling, people also use the arrival area of the NAIA as a place to offer loans and various products and services without the permission of MIAA.

"The area is too messy. There are people selling SIM cards for cellular phones. There are also people offering 5-6 loans," Manda said during a recent press conference at the MIAA administration building at the NAIA complex. "Overall, it is a security problem. These are all security risks."

The MIAA chief said bets are usually collected from passengers, especially those from Japan and Korea, for games like "loteng" and "ending", both popular forms of gambling in the country. A lot of the passengers from Japan are entertainers or guest relations officers in nightclubs.

Loteng is a modified version of lotto, which offers jackpots for picking winning numbers. The term "5-6," is a loan service which charges as much as 20 percent interest per month.

Manda said some of the persons involved often pose as hotel representatives.

"How are they able to enter inside the arrival area of NAIA? I was also told that the people offering hotel services are not really hotel representatives," Manda said.

He said that because of the problem, they have created a committee led by Engineer Octavio Lina, MIAA operations manager, to oversee the plans to restore order at the arrival area.

Another major problem plaguing the arrival area is illegal parking by some transport services and welcoming parties, which causes traffic during arrivals.

"We created a committee to handle the transportation at the arrival area of the NAIA Terminal 1. We are now reorganizing it so we can clean up the area. There are too many people welcoming arriving passengers," said Manda.

He said MIAA addressed the problem in the past, but illegal businesses have returned.

"There are a lots of livelihoods here. Especially when there are arrivals from Japan and Korea," Manda lamented.

The airport chief added that he recently received information that several fake porters are doing business at the arrival area of NAIA.

"They are not our porters," Manda said, warning that some of these people may be working for robbery groups and picking out possible targets.

He said that porters of MIAA are not allowed to carry cell phones. "We will fire them if they do," he said.