Office of Transportation Security seeks NBI probe of laglag bala racket

The Office of Transportation Security has asked the National Bureau of Investigation to look into the proliferation of laglag bala incidents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

"For purposes of transparency, sumulat na nga ako sa NBI na tulungan nyo kami dito kasi as far as investigation is concerned, sila dapat siguro mag imbestiga nyan," OTS administrator Roland Recomono said in an interview.

"Sige imbestigahan natin yan. Pero pag kami nag-imbestiga baka masabing 'di ka transparent. Kaya sabi ko wini-welcome ko yung NBI.... For the sake of transparency, why don't we create a task group or a task force?" added Recomono, a retired commodore.

Repeated calls to the National Bureau of Investigation for comment has yet to be returned as of posting time.

The OTS is the agency under the Department of Transportation and Communication in charge of luggage screeners at the country's airports.

Its employees are among those being blamed for the extortion that involves framing unsuspecting passengers by planting live bullets in their luggage.

Carrying live ammunition on a plane is prohibited under the country's transportation and security laws.

Insepectors bothered

Luggage inspectors are visibly affected by the doubts cast on their integrity by fellow Filipinos such as those who wrap their bags heavily in plastic to avoid falling victim to the modus operandi.

"Naiiyak ako kasi kami ang nasasaktan sir. Sobra sobra yung balita na laglag bala. Sa mga kababayan ko at kapitbahay ko, alam nyo kung ano ako. Kami lalaban kami. Hindi kami ganun," said luggage inspector Nanet Ramos as she tried fighting back her tears.

"Yung nga po ang nakakasakit. Kapwa mo pilipino wala nang tiwala sa yo," she added.

"Hindi kami umaasa sa mga ganyan na mga sinasabi nyo para lang magka pera. No. May takot ako sa Diyos at binubvuhay ko ang mga anak ko kung saan lang ang nakakayanan ko," screener Nazario Malonzo added.

The employees expressed willingness to be subjected to a lifestyle check as one prelate suggested.

Passengers are also shunning porters who meet passengers at the airport.

"Mahirap na. Pilipinas e," said one.

Porters, on the other hand, try to laught if off but are also affected by the controversy.

"Takot sa bala kahit wala namang bala," a porter said of the passengers at the airport.

No touch policy

Recomono on Tuesday defended his personnel amid the "laglag bala" issue, saying it was unlikely that bag inspectors were involved in the planting of rounds of ammunition in passengers' luggage as part of an extortion scheme at the NAIA.

He said luggage screeners at the country's airports were no longer allowed to touch passengers' bags especially if x-ray scanners catch suspicious items such as bullets.

If a suspicious item was seen through the x-ray, it would be the passenger who would open the bag instead of the inspectors.

He said that it was possible that the planting of bullets was being done outside the airport such as in the taxis or by porters outside the terminals.

The OTS is the agency under the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) in charge of luggage inspectors.

President Benigno Aquino III on Monday tasked the DOTC with doing a thorough review amid fears of the extortion scam.

Recomono said no one among the OTS inspectors have been charged or placed under investigation in connection with planting of ammunition.

He said 65 OTS personnel have been dismissed; 19, suspended; and 36, under investigation. None of them, Recomono said, were in connection with laglag bala.

Complaint filed before NBI

A mother and daughter on Tuesday afternoon filed a report regarding a laglag bala incident at the NAIA.

Jose Marie Paz-Trias, 34, said she and her mother recently encountered inspectors who transfered their bag from one weighing scale to another.

When it was again passed through the x-ray, the screeners pointed out that a bullet was seen inside their luggage.

They were reportedly told that the case could be ironed out. It was at this point that they suspected that they were about to fall victims to an extortion attempt.

Trias said she called a friend who belonged to the NBI and one of the inspectors asked who she was calling.

When she said that she was calling a friend from the bureau, the inspectors went through the motions of letting her go without paying anything and with no further questions.

After a few days, Trias and her mother decided to file a report with the NBI as they thought about the migrant workers who fall victim to the racket. —NB, GMA News