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| The dismissed security staff trying to show images of the supposed bullet casing in Ruth's bag |
Philippine
Transport Secretary Vince Dizon has ordered the dismissal of three airport
security personnel at terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in
Manila after a video reminiscent of the “tanim bala” scandal 10 years ago, went
viral.
In
the video, 69-year-old Ruth Adel could be seen being stopped by the security
staff as she was about to board her flight to Vietnam on Mar 6, saying she
should go back to where the x-ray machine was, as their supervisor saw a spent
bullet casing in her hand-carried bag.
Adel
resisted, and proceeded to empty the contents of her handbag, all the while
upbraiding the staff for attempting to detain her on false accusation. No
bullet was found, and the security guards walked away grinning.
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| Ruth's bag is shown being emptied of various items, including with a wad of US$ bills |
Within
hours of the video being released, Dizon held a press conference to say that
the three staff involved had been dismissed. He also promised to pursue the
filing of an administrative case against them after an investigation is
conducted.
“We
will not tolerate this kind of behavior against our citizens,” said Dizon. “So
we are hereby announcing the termination of the people in the OTS (Office of
Transportation Security) who were involved in this incident,” he said.
Dizon
also warned that he is serious about going after errant personnel.
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| Dizon (in black) says he is serious about cracking down on staff who victimize passengers |
“We
are not fooling around here. Kung akala
nyo nagloloko kami, nagkakamali kayo. Kung akala ninyo ginagawa namin ito for
show, nagkakamali kayo,” said the visibly irked Dizon. (If you think we are pulling your leg, you are mistaken. If you think we are doing this for you, you are mistaken).
Malacanang
was also quick to react, with Presidential Spokesperson Claire Castro
announcing that President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has personally ordered an
investigation into the case.
After
the government’s quick response, Ruth and her daughter Cai who was with her on
the flight, said in an online interview that it appeared that what the errant
staff were after were the US dollar bills that she had stuffed inside a
transparent envelope.
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| Ruth and Cai speak of their ordeal in an ABS-CBN interview |
The
two were already at the boarding gates of their Cebu Pacific flight to Hanoi
when a female security officer told them they needed to take their hand-carried bag
back to the screening desk as her supervisor saw a spent bullet inside it.
“Anong basyo? Anong bala? Wala akong alam sa
mga sinasabi ninyo. Senior na ako, bakit ninyo ginagawa ito? Maawa naman kayo
sa amin,” Ruth said she told the security staff.
(What casing? What bullet? I don’t know
anything about what you’re saying. I am already a senior citizen. Why are you
doing this? Have pity on us).
When
she resisted, the supervisor who claimed to have seen the spent bullet in the
x-ray machine came over and said it was not in the hand-carried luggage but in Ruth’s
handbag.
Frantic
because there were only a few minutes left before their flight was due to take
off, Ruth emptied the contents of her bag which yielded only the money in the
envelope, a comb, a rosary and a few other items, but no bullet.
Ruth
said the three staff then turned their backs at them, after failing to stop
them from recording everything that was happening on video, but offered no
excuses.
“Grabe ang nerbyos ko sa pangyayari at tumaas ang presyon ko. Hanggang
ngayon ay napapanaginipan ko parin ang mga pangyayari sa akin,” said Ruth
in her post.
“Ang buong akala ko nagbago na ang systema dito. Gusto kong mabigyan ng
aksyon ito at ayaw ko ng may mabiktima pa silang iba. Ni hindi humingi ng
paumanhin sa abala at perwisyo na binigay nila sa akin. Kapag hindi sila
naturuan ng leksyon, patuloy ng mambibiktima itong mga opisyales na ito.”
(I was so nervous
because of what happened that my blood pressure shot up. Until know I still
have nightmares about what happened to me).
(All along I thought
thing have changed. I want someone to act on this as I don’t want them to victimize
more people. They did not even offer an apology for causing me inconvenience
and distress. If they are not taken to task, they will continue victimizing
other people).
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| The security staff tried to stop the filming of their encounter with Ruth and Cai |
Ruth’s experience called
to mind a series of incidents in 2015, when a number of passengers at Manila
airport were arrested and held on charges of having bullets or bullet casings
in their luggage which they were supposedly keeping as “anting-anting” or
talisman.
This was partly prompted
by cases in some places abroad, especially Hong Kong, where Filipinos were routinely
arrested at the airport after their luggage yielded bullets, and charged in
court for possessing “arms or ammunition,” no matter if they were fired, or
spent bullets.
But in nearly all of
the cases in this particular year, the bullets were found to have been planted
by airport security personnel who found in them an easy way to extort money
from hapless victims, many of them overseas Filipino workers.
From January to
November 2015, more than 30 such incidents were reported at the airport, despite
repeated warnings to outbound passengers that it is illegal to keep them in their
belongings.
As the cases mounted,
airport authorities repeatedly insisted that their security personnel had
nothing to do with the scam.
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