Tracing Ramona's steps

MANILA, Philippines - Ma. Ramona Bautista was seen at the Cathay Pacific Airlines flight CX902 check-in counter last Friday, assisted by two employees at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 (NAIA-1), according to a source.

The employees, reportedly one from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the other a police officer in civilian clothes, were wearing their identification cards when they were caught on a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera owned by the Manila International Airport Authority, which refused to identify them.

The two were seen at the check-in counters and at the concourse departure area.

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) CCTV footage showed that at 7:20 p.m. on Nov. 4, Ramona was seen near the terminal fee counter at NAIA-1 but she did not fall in line. She was seen looking around and appeared to have waved to someone. No one else was seen accompanying her.

After a few seconds of waiting, Ramona – who was wearing a black blouse and leggings, flipflops and a red scarf partially covering her face – decided to enter the immigration area. She was carrying three small bags.

“Someone might have paid the terminal fee in her behalf,” the source said because “the immigration officer would have asked her to first return to the terminal fee booth and pay the fee before allowing her to pass the immigration center.

When she was at the immigration counter, she did not have an easy time getting past Counter 14. “Normally, it would only take 45 seconds for a passenger to get clearance from the immigration counter. But in her case, it took less than four minutes,” from 7:23 p.m. to 7:27 p.m., the BI source said.

The immigration officer, who has been with the bureau a few years, asked Ramona a few questions, one of which was why she was wearing a scarf. Ramona replied her husband is Turkish.

The BI official said there was no need for Ramona to present a return ticket. “It was only after Ramona was cleared at the immigration counter did our immigration officer realize it was the half-sister of Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. who just passed through. But then there was no reason to offload her, there was no basis since there was no hold departure order or watch list issued against her nor were her documents tampered,” the source said.

BI spokeswoman Ma. Antonetta Mangrobang said Ramona did not make any shortcuts on the immigration procedure, and went through “like a normal passenger.”

Ramona flew on board a Cathay Pacific flight Friday night to Hong Kong, where she boarded a connecting Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul Sunday. She arrived at the Ataturk International Airport yesterday.

BOC Commissioner Rufino Biazon said yesterday he has not received an official report on the alleged move by a BOC employee to escort Ramona to the Cathay Pacific check-in counter, but said they will investigate the incident.

He said he hopes CCTV cameras were able to capture the image of the employee.