3 OTS personnel axed over ‘tanim bala’

MANILA, Philippines — Three security personnel allegedly involved in what appears to be another case of “tanim-bala” or bullet-planting scheme at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) were relieved from their posts yesterday.

Department of Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon sacked the employees of the DOTr’s Office for Transportation Security (OTS).

Dizon expressed disappointment over the viral video of the OTS personnel accosting a woman at the boarding gate after they supposedly found a bullet casing in her bag.

He said a probe is underway, but the OTS employees have to be fired for breach of airport protocols.

Dizon reminded OTS officers that they are prohibited from going after passengers who were already cleared for boarding.

Ruth Adel, 69, posted on social media that she was stopped by airport security personnel who allegedly found an amulet made of a bullet shell in her bag.

Adel was flying to Vietnam with her family on March 6 when the incident happened.

She had passed the security checks and had reached the boarding gate when she was stopped by OTS personnel.

Dizon said there is a possibility that Adel may have been a victim of mistaken identity since she was only stopped at the boarding gate.

He vowed to kick out DOTr officials and employees found abusing their authority.

Marcos orders probe

Amid public fears that the extortion scheme exposed years ago has resumed at the NAIA, President Marcos ordered a probe into the reported bullet-planting incident.

The scheme, which involves placing a bullet casing into passengers’ luggage to blackmail them into paying money in exchange for a security clearance, made headlines again after Adel posted the incident on Facebook.

“It won’t be good if this is repeated. The President really wants this investigated with the help of (Transportation) Secretary Vince Dizon,” Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said at a press briefing yesterday.

Castro said Marcos would not allow Filipinos and foreign tourists to become victims of the scheme.

The incident involving Adel fueled concerns that the scheme of planting bullet casings in luggage to extort money from passengers has reemerged at the NAIA.

To prevent a repeat of the incident, Dizon said he plans to put up a hotline so that passengers can report complaints directly to his office.

The New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC), operator of the country’s main gateway, said the safety of passengers “is a shared effort among government agencies.”

In a statement, the NNIC said the OTS is in charge of security screenings and baggage inspections at the airport.

The NNIC immediately coordinated with the OTS and reviewed closed-circuit television footage following the incident.

Sen. Grace Poe commended the DOTr’s action, saying the resurgence of the bullet-planting scheme may again taint NAIA’s reputation among foreign tourists and local travelers.

“Authorities must not allow this scheme to resurface and to pester travelers anew,” Poe said. — Rudy Santos, Alexis Romero, Cecille Suerte Felipe