‘High stick,’ not high tech vs terror

Airport security forces use high tech, state-of-the-art gadgets in searching for liquid explosives.

At the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and shopping malls in Quezon City, security guards have set aside hand-held metal detectors and are using what they call a "high stick" to inspect the bags of commuters and shoppers.

The "stick of the art" policy adopted by the MRT management has netted large piles of bottled water, soft drinks and even canned goods at the entrances to rail stations.

"Pag malambot, tubig ’yun. Pag matigas, canned goods (If the container is soft, then it contains water. If it is hard, then those are canned goods)," a security guard at the Cubao station of the MRT said.

Carrying out their own version of the government’s anti-terrorism campaign, the blue guards’ main tools are sticks of various sizes and lengths.

At the MRT’s North EDSA station, a security guard used what looked like a chopstick, while others used ballpens as they peeked into the train passengers’ bags.

Because they have no way of knowing what the passengers are carrying, security guards use their pakiramdam (intuition) when "feeling" through the contents of passengers’ baggage.

Huge, transparent garbage bins were placed near the security areas where guards search the bags of people carrying groceries and other baggage.

The security guards said all liquids are now banned from the MRT coaches on orders of the railway management.

However, this "stick of the art" policy adopted for MRT security has triggered confusion among commuters, particularly office workers who normally take the train home and carry mineral water and groceries for their families.

Passengers are asked to either consume or discard the liquids in the provided garbage bins or be denied entry into the MRT coaches.

Disservice

However, the policy adopted by the MRT is not the policy of the Light Railway Transit Administration (LRTA) that operates the two LRT rails that traverse Quezon City and Pasay City.

Passengers are allowed to carry bottled water and canned good on LRT trains.

The LRT management said banning bottled water and canned goods would be a great disservice to the commuters, who are mostly ordinary workers and who usually bring food and water to their workplaces to save on expenses.

"It would be unfair if suddenly these drinks they carry to school are banned on board the LRT," LRTA administrator Melquiades Robles said.

"There is no truth in some published reports that the LRTA has imposed a ban on liquids, gels, and canned goods carried by passengers," he said.

Robles said the usual security measures carried out by their guards in inspecting boxes and packages are now more thorough. The LRTA still maintains its "no inspection, no ride" policy.

The heightened security alert has been in effect since after the Rizal Day bombing of an LRT coach at the railway’s Blumentritt station in 2000.

Prohibition will apply if passengers carry liquid that is not properly sealed and is smelly or which may spill and become a potential source of accidents for other passengers.

"Most of our passengers are students and workers who carry packed lunches and water to help defray rising food costs so we cannot be too harsh," he said.

Robles also said there is no notice from the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) that liquids, gels and canned goods should be banned from trains.

He also said that if the LRTA receives such instructions from the DOTC or other government security agencies, it will comply with such a ban.

He said the security men, as a precautionary measure, only inspect these liquids and gels but do not ban these items from the LRT coaches.

"As long as the items are inspected, the passengers will be allowed to carry these items on board the LRT," Robles said.

No ban

Meanwhile, the DOTC clarified that there is no existing ban on the transport of liquids and gels via the country’s railway system as long as passengers voluntarily have these items inspected by trains station security personnel before entry.

In an exclusive phone interview, DOTC spokesman retired general Thompson Lantion said "there is no ban on liquids and gels." Lantion denied reports published the other day about such a ban.

"As long as the passengers have these inspected before going inside the stations," Lantion told The STAR, then ferrying these goods by train is acceptable.

"Pinakikiusapan lang sila (we are just appealing to the passengers to have these inspected)," Lantion said. "There is no directive issued banning these things."

On the other hand, the previous security measure, such as banning tin cans and other sealed containers, which cannot be opened by the passengers, are still being imposed.

Lantion said railway security people may ask the passengers to open their fluid containers — such as feeding bottles, water jugs, vacuum flasks or bottles.

He added that the security people might even ask the passengers to have these liquids tasted to prove they are potable and do not contain explosives or poison.

Meanwhile, Lantion said the Office for Transportation Security (OTS) of the DOTC will be issuing an order regarding this security measure.

Lantion said security was heightened in airports and other transport terminals because of the recent discovery of a terrorist plot in Britain to bomb planes using liquid explosives.

He said additional security measures, such as increased police personnel, canine security teams, metal detectors and X-ray machines are being used to prevent any terrorist attack.

In a related development, Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Oscar Calderon has ordered newly installed Metro Manila Police chief Director Reynaldo Varilla to activate the security plan for the metropolis’ mass transportation systems, which service the capital’s 11 million residents.

"We may not be under direct threat from the planned terrorist activity that was foiled by our counterparts in the United Kingdom, but prudence dictates that we must be on constant alert against such threats," Calderon said.

He reiterated his instructions to the Aviation Police to ensure 100 percent availability of all the personnel and resources of the Aviation Security Group (ASG) in implementing the heightened security procedures at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and the rest of the country’s airports.

He also directed all regional police offices to conduct preventive security operations amid renewed threats of terrorism.

Calderon has also ordered the PNP Directorate for Intelligence and the PNP Intelligence Group to intensify manhunt operations against known terrorist personalities, particularly those belonging to the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and the Abu Sayyaf.

He also alerted the regional police offices and other PNP national support units and asked them to extend active support for the ASG, which is securing the country’s six international airports and all domestic air terminals nationwide.

The PNP’s regional offices were directed to initiate their own security measures, particularly in the vicinity of international and domestic airports in the provinces, by establishing checkpoints and fielding intelligence personnel and police detectives.

Calderon said the PNP National Operations Center (NOC) and the Complaints and Referral Action Center (CRAC) continue to monitor the situation in the regions.

These police offices are on duty 24/7 to receive and process information from the public about any unusual activities in their communities, he said.

Calderon urged the public to immediately report any unusual activity by suspicious individuals through the Department of the Interior and Local Governments’ (DILG) emergency hotline Patrol 117, text PNP 2920 or call in their tips to the PNP public information office at 725-5115 and 725-3179.

He has also asked outbound international flight passengers to cooperate with the increased security measures at the country’s international airports.

The Special Action Force has been alerted and primed to provide any necessary support to the ASG in terms of troop augmentation, equipment and tactical response. — With Sandy Araneta, Cecille Suerte Felipe