Quote:
Originally Posted by Naresh85
Hi Bros,
Any precaution to take at the airport especially during arrival and departure? How to avoid if they asking for money?
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Asking for money is easy to handle, but this......"Manila airport in bullets scam row"
Monday, November 02, 2015
An employers association has called on the Philippine government to crack down on the tanim bala (bullet planting) racket that extorts money from airline passengers, including Hong Kong-bound domestic helpers, at Manila international airport.
This comes after President Benigno Aquino ordered an investigation into the scam in which airport security staff allegedly drop bullets into the bags of unsuspecting travelers, then demand money from them in exchange for the dropping of charges.
One victim whose plight was reported on BBC News was Gloria Ortinez, a Hong Kong- bound domestic helper.
Ortinez, 56, who has worked here for the past 20 years, was on her way back to Hong Kong when she was arrested at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, after luggage inspectors purportedly found a bullet in her bag.
Ortinez, like all other victims, denied knowledge of the bullet, but was turned over to police for detention. She was released after two days.
Photos of passengers wrapping their bags in plastic, with some writing an appeal to airport staff not to plant bullets in their luggage, have gone viral on social media.
Aquino has instructed Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications Joseph Emilio Abaya to "thoroughly look into" the incidents, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said over government-run Radyo ng Bayan.
Lacierda cited the arrest of Ortinez, who he said "does not seem to fit" the profile of someone who needs or uses ammunition.<
p>"It's one too many. In our discussions with Secretary Abaya, he mentioned there were six cases, maybe more," Lacierda said.
Beside Ortinez, there is also a Japanese traveler, Kazunobu Sakamoto, in whose bag officials supposedly found two bullets. Wheelchair-bound Rhed de Guzman was found with one bullet. Two bullets were also supposedly found in the bag of US missionary Lane Michael White, who complained that airport security staff demanded 30,000 pesos (HK$4,976) from him in exchange for the dropping of charges. Hong Kong Employers of Overseas Domestic Helpers' Association chairwoman Betty Yung Ma Shan-yee said yesterday Manila should treat the latest incident seriously.
Ma said some domestic workers have expressed concern they may be fined after being unfairly accused of violating regulations by Philippine authorities when returning to their home country.
A spokesman for the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong said they have only heard the news reports and have not yet received any requests for help