New 'laglag-bala' controversy all about elections —acting DOJ chief

Acting Justice Secretary Emmanuel Caparas on Tuesday said the resurgence of the "laglag-bala" controversy seemed to be connected to the upcoming May 9 elections.

In a media briefing in Manila, Caparas said it seems the controversy is being used as a "diversion" meant to "veer" the public attention "away from the elections."

"We know that there are elections coming up and among the activities in the elections, there are some activities there that will take place that tend to veer away from the election itself, that tend to take advantage, or, you know, unduly use the day of election as an event to do things that are, you know, some are for mischief others are for unlawful purposes," he said.

He cited the start of classes as an example, during which certain things are already "expected" to happen prior to school opening.

"Normally, pagka-pasukan sa school, what can you expect sa pasukan a week before? Iyong mga magulang natin pupunta sa mga mall, bibili ng kailangan ng mga anak nila," he said.

"You can expect that on the day itself, there will be plenty of traffic. So these are things that we expect because of an event that’s taking place," he added.

Caparas appealed to the public to no longer revive the controversy surrounding the incident.

"Itong tanim-bala na ito, issue na patay na iyan eh... Huwag na po sana nating palakihin ito," he said.

The controversy resurfaced last week when an elderly couple were barred from boarding a US-bound flight after the Office for Transport Security (OTS) reported finding a live .38-caliber bullet in one of their bags at the departure area of Terminal 1.

In December, the National Bureau of Investigation submitted a report to the Department of Justice confirming the "laglag-bala" racket committed by airport personnel.

Caparas, at the time, clarified that no syndicate was involved in it.

The scheme involves the planting of live bullets in the bags of unsuspecting travelers by airport personnel for extortion purposes. Caparas said the NBI task force interviewed resource individuals and went over documents on reported cases in the last five years. —KBK/JST, GMA News