The United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) released a memo to staff members warning them of the "tanim-bala" (bullet-planting scam) scheme that are allegedly carried out by Aiport Security to extort money from passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
They also advised their staff members to secure their bags by wrapping them in plastic.
"Staff members are advised to keep your luggage with you, lock your luggage, and consider wrapping your luggage in plastic as an extra security measure," the UNDSS said in a statement Tuesday.
The tanim-bala (bullet planting) scam, has already victimized hundred of ordinary travelers, overseas Filipino workers (OFW) as well as foreigners. The passenger if caught will then be forced to choose between facing an investigation or paying a bribe.
The advisory was first reported by Floyd Whaley, a senior correspondent of The New York Times, in his Twitter account.
“United Nations advises staff using Manila airport to ‘keep your luggage with you, lock your luggage, and consider wrapping your luggage,’” Whaley said in his tweet.
Whaley eventually posted a copy of the internal memo from the UN Department of Safety and Security (undss.radioroom@undp.org) with the subject “SECURITY ADVISORY: Naia-Bullets in luggage.”
United Nations advises staff using Manila airport to "keep your luggage with you, lock your luggage, and consider wrapping your luggage".
Those apprehended with bullets in their luggage has increased up to a staggering 775% this year, from only 12 incidents in 2014 to 105 cases from January to November this year, data from the Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group showed. But still the airport police aren’t convinced there’s an extortion racket behind it.
In a press briefing at the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters on Monday, Supt. Jeanne Panisan, spokesman of the police unit at the airport, the Aviation Security Group (Avsegroup), said that for the whole of 2014, the Avsegroup made only 12 apprehensions for illegal possession of ammunition. From January to November 2015, however, the Avsegroup already made 30 apprehensions for the offense.
Asked for the reason behind the sudden leap in numbers, Panisan shared her “impression” that security screeners, from the Office for Transportation Security (OTS), have stepped up their duties since the implementation of the new Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act, approved in 2013.
Under the updated law, possession of a single live bullet could merit an P80,000 bail, P200,000 if the suspect was a foreigner, Panisan said.
Panisan dismissed allegations that an airport-based “syndicate” has been operating a “laglag bala” (planting of bullets) extortion racket. “Based on our investigation [before], it was never proven. No one was ever implicated,” Panisan said.
Panisan explained OTS personnel under the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) have been tasked to screen passengers’ baggage. “We [the PNP Avsegroup] have no part in the actual security screening….[The Avsegroup] are only called in if there is a [discovered] violation of procedures, such as the bringing in of bullets, guns, or explosives,” Panisan said.
Based on the testimony and evidence furnished by the OTS security screeners, the Avsegroup apprehends the suspect and files the complaint in the Pasay prosecutor’s office.
From the passengers’ entry into the airport and as they pass through security screenings, only the passengers themselves carry their own baggage, unless they hire porters, according to Panisan. Even after the security officers see something suspicious in the X-ray, and take a screenshot of it, they will still the Avsegroup first before having the bag opened by the passengers themselves. “How can you plant a bullet then?” Panisan said, rhetorically, in Filipino.
Asked why passengers would keep bringing the contraband to the airport, Panisan surmised: “With all due respect to our countrymen, our belief in amulets go deep.”
Panisan, however, clarified that the Avsegroup would only file a criminal complaint against those in possession of a “complete” or live bullet. Empty shells — which are usually the ones turned into amulets — only get confiscated and “documented.”
Panisan advised: “When you travel, be sure you’re the ones who pack your bags. It’s common to borrow bags….but ensure that it is empty.” She suggested that passengers wrap or lock their bags “so there would be no reason to say a bullet had been planted.”
Meanwhile, Chief Supt. Wilben Mayor, PNP spokesperson, explained that under the Firearms law, “intention [for the ammunition possession] does not matter.”
“[The intention] is not taken into consideration. The mere possession of prohibited item is already a violation of the law. Of course we sympathize with countrymen who get caught, but the law is strict,” Mayor said.
“Of course, if there are those in our group who violated [laws], we will welcome an investigation. Our intention is the same. Our org has been affected. We appeal to public, let us not prejudge. Let us wait for investigation that will be conducted. We want the truth to come out so we will know who is the culprit,” Mayor said.
Mayor, in a phone interview, added that there were legal “remedies” also available to those who were victimized by the supposed extortion scam. “If you think you’re aggrieved, you can file a case against the person who did it,” the police spokesperson said. “Assuming you can identify the person, file a complaint for planting of evidence…or civil damages if you missed your flight.”
But Mayor also reminded: “You must be able to establish sufficient evidence” for such complaints.
This will scam will surely hit tourism in the Philippines it is now reported on major news like: BBC Dailymail CNN HKFP
NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) Manila's airport for two years in the row was voted as the worst airport in the world (Sleeping in Airports), this year due to minor facelift they actually improved for the worst to the 8th worst airport in Asia. But now NAIA seems to want to achieve the top spot again with a new scam called "lag lag bala (Bullet Planting Scam)" believed to be executed by airport security guards and other airport employees. Once the bag planted with bullets gone through security x-ray checkpoint the bullet will be found and victims will be threatened with charges of illegal possession of ammunition unless they pay a fine.
Victims reported on the media now includes:
- 20-year-old Lane Michael White who is a American missionary, Office for Transportation Security (OTS) of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) found .22-cal. bullet found inside his baggage. He was jailed for 6 days and got out only after posting a P40,000 bail.
- Rhed Austria de Guzman a Wheelchair-bound American woman who bribed an OTS with P500 so that she'll be cleared for her flight back to California. Two .22-caliber bullets were found in one of the pockets of her luggage.
- Gloria Ortinez, a 56-year-old domestic worker who is going to Hong Kong to return to her job as stopped at the airport after a bullet was found in her carry-on luggage.
- Kazunobu Sakamoto, a 33-year-old Japanese tourist, was also arrested after two bullets were discovered inside the pocket of a shirt folded in his luggage.
- 19-year-old girl who is a student was also stopped and wasn't able to board the plane when a bullet was found inside her sling bag discovered by NAIA Terminal 3 personnel. She is a member of Los Cantates de Manila choir and was on her way for an international competition in Busan, South Korea.
- 60-year-old engineer Augusto Dagan was arrested by authorities at the Davao International Airport after he was found with two 9-millimeter bullets inside his luggage. It is believed that the bullets were planted in NAIA but the bullets was discovered in Davao.
A source said that this scam has been going on even before and they target 20 victims a day.
ISIS has released a video footage showing how they will fight the Russian Jets, using rubber condoms probably supplied by the US. The video is styled like their other propaganda videos with Arabic chanting.
Based on this desperate measures use by ISIS, it seems Russia is having success against ISIS. The video is about 3 minutes that shows ISIS militants hanging tons of condom bombs onto the ceiling of a room with Arabic graffiti painted on the walls. Then it shows the men sending the balloons into the air hoping it would hit Russian jets. However, it's more than likely to end up blowing their heads up!
Thousands of people in China reported seeing "skyscrapers or city" on the sky. Nope, they are not building artificial land on the sky the people actually experienced a rare type of Mirage called
Fata Morgana. Fata Morgana is an unusual and complex form of superior mirage that is seen in a narrow band right above the horizon.
"Fata Morgana mirages distort the object or objects which they are based on significantly, often such that the object is completely unrecognizable. A Fata Morgana can be seen on land or at sea, in polar regions or in deserts. This kind of mirage can involve almost any kind of distant object, including boats, islands and the coastline." (wikipedia)
"A Fata Morgana is often rapidly changing. The mirage comprises several inverted (upside down) and erect (right side up) images that are stacked on top of one another. Fata Morgana mirages also show alternating compressed and stretched zones." (wikipedia)
It was captured by a news video and it does look like a huge city with tall skyscrapers floating on the clouds. It was quite amazing.
I hope next time it would look like a scene from the video game Bioshock Infinite.
Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago announced on Tuesday that she will run for president in the 2016 elections. She said that she will file her certificate of candidacy for the presidency this week.
Santiago said the Philippines will be a better country if she will become president in the near future.
“If I become president some time in the very near future, this country will be much better than it was before. Today, this country suffers from the malaise of plunder. Plunder is when you look at a person and the person looks at you and you feel like eating each other up. It’s like cancer,” said Santiago, who is currently on medical leave at the Senate for battling Stage 4 lung cancer.
“The one thing bad about cancer is it tends to eat up its neighbor,” she added.
“So we will try to make this country better simply by trusting in the Lord, trusting in yourself—trusting that you yourself may lead in God’s great heaven where we know He loves,” she added.
..... at last someone worth voting for this coming elections.
