What we know
“Laglag Bala” or "Tanim Bala" are terms used by the Philippine and international media to refer to a scandal that broke out in the news about an alleged extortion scheme at the Nino Aquino International Airport (NAIA). Airport personnel in charge of inspecting luggage of international travelers allegedly plant live ammunition in the bags of unsuspecting travelers.
The live ammunition or “bala” (Filipino word for “bullet”) is allegedly planted as evidence around the time that passengers submit their bags for x-ray scanning. The passenger is then asked to witness the inspection. When the planted bullet is then found, the traveler will be threatened with criminal charges which are then offered to be withdrawn upon payment of a fee which varies in amount depending, they say, on the traveler’s status and nationality.
The extortion scam is said to target foreign tourists arriving in the Philippines, overseas Filipino workers returning home on holiday or furlough, and former Filipino residents who are US legal permanent residents (“green card holders”).
Most seasoned travelers, foreigners and Filipino citizens alike, are aware that this is just an extortion scam, and willingly negotiate, even haggle, with arresting officers and pay them for the charges to be dropped. Other travelers, particularly, elderly retirees or Filipino overseas workers often do not have the resources to pay the sum demanded. One Filipino woman, accompanying her grandmother for cancer treatment in Singapore refused to pay and dared the airport officials to file a case. She then threatened them that she will also file complaints against them. She was allowed to take her flight without further delay.
The first news story to shed light on this issue involved a Filipino-American woman who was traveling back to her home in the US after visiting relatives in the Philippines. She sat in a wheelchair because of a foot injury while her carry-on bags passed through the x-ray scanner at the airport. She was surprised when she was informed that airport personnel had seen a live bullet in one of her bags. She denied owning live bullets and denied carrying any in her bags. Her travel documents were seized and she was informed that she was being charged with a violation of Presidential Decree 1866 as amended by Republic Act 10591.
While detained at the airport and awaiting inquest, someone approached her and advised her to simply offer to pay P500 so that she won’t miss her flight. She was reminded that carrying ammunition on an airplane will jeopardize her legal permanent residency status in the US and formal charges will get her in trouble with the US Homeland Security. She paid the P500; no charges were filed, and she was able to fly home to the US. When she arrived safely back home in the US, she alerted the press.
Further investigations by the press yielded the story of an American missionary, Lane Michael White, who was traveling to Palawan to begin mission work there. He was traveling with his Filipino stepmother when again, airport personnel informed him that a bullet was found in one of his bags. He was made to put his bags through the scanner several times. He completely and vehemently denied owning ammunition and carrying them in his luggage. The airport personnel who inspected his bags found a .22 caliber bullet.
He was asked to pay P30,000 so that he wouldn’t be charged but he refused to pay. The charges were brought for inquest before the prosecutor and eventually filed in court and he stayed in jail until his family was able to post bail for his temporary liberty. Luckily for him, his stepmother was able to videotape the extortion attempt at the airport as well as the inquest proceedings. The American missionary then filed his own complaint against the airport personnel involved. The case is still pending.
Public outrage was stoked when a Filipino domestic helper, Gloria Ortinez, who was traveling back to Hong Kong, was also charged with the same criminal offense. Teary-eyed, the domestic helper appealed for help and clemency on media as she was detained, without hope of informing her relatives of her predicament, and in jeopardy of losing her job in Hong Kong because she was detained. Fortunately for her, she was able to contact a lawyer she knew.
At the inquest proceedings, the inquest prosecutor noticed that the bullet photographed at the airport as evidence against the domestic helper was not the same bullet produced as evidence and submitted at the inquest. The charges against the domestic helper were dismissed by the prosecutor citing lack of probable cause.
What we don’t know
An investigation has already been launched by various government agencies. Even while these investigations are going on, still, news agencies continue reporting incidents of travelers at the Philippine airport in Manila who are caught with live ammunition in their carry-on bags.
One case in point is another overseas Filipino worker who was coming home to Cagayan de Oro city from abroad for his father’s burial. He was stopped at the airport for possessing one live bullet in his carry-on bag. He readily admitted ownership and possession of the one bullet, stating that it was a gift from a friend for luck.
Filipino cultural experts have opined that Filipinos have a penchant for carrying “anting-anting” or talismans and good luck charms to ward off evil spirits and ensure a safe trip. Some lawmakers have proposed amendments to the laws prohibiting carrying live ammunition to allow Filipinos the right to carry just one live bullet if it is used as “anting-anting”.
The woman who was accompanying her grandmother for cancer treatment in Singapore, Maria Paz Trias, alleged that she was coerced to sign papers after a live bullet was allegedly found by airport personnel in her carry-on luggage. She was told that she would be released if she attested that she merely carried the one live bullet as “anting-anting”. She refused and threatened to bring suit against the airport personnel and the airport management. She was eventually allowed to board the plane.
What we wish to know
Former airport staff and personnel whose names and identities have been withheld have granted videotaped interviews where they explained that this is the work of a criminal syndicate operating in the airport. According to news reports, there are spotters, usually porters or immigration officials who see the travel documents of passengers – these choose the targets in whose bags live bullets will be planted; There are those who actually slip and plant the bullet (called “tirador”) who may also be the same personnel who inform and charge the traveler that a live bullet was found in his luggage; and lastly, a “taga-bulong” or whisperer advises travelers to just give the airport personnel some cash for them to look the other way and drop the charges against the traveler. The amounts extorted are then divided among them and officials are given their share to ensure that they can continue to operate.
If this is truly the case, and this is an organized crime perpetrated by a criminal syndicate working in the airport, then no traveler is safe. The integrity of airport personnel and staff are open to question, and the complacency of the government agencies who oversee airport operations is tantamount to gross inefficiency. The international reputation of the Philippines as a travel destination will be shattered.
One thing is sure. Tourist travel bookings to the Philippines from abroad have dwindled. Tourists and travelers who cannot cancel their trips have taken precautions such as putting padlocks or sealing their bags with packaging or duct tape, and wrapping their luggage with plastic cling wrap before passing these through the airport scanners.
The public is up-in-arms against the entire airport police and security forces. Some security personnel are understandably demoralized. Some have been working at the airport for years and have past commendations for honesty and integrity as they have returned and surrendered bags with cash and other valuables left behind by passengers. They deny any knowledge of such an extortion scam, they deny it exists and more strongly deny participating in it.
On social media, people have raised the issue that even if airport security and police forces are not involved in the extortion scam, they are complicit in the scam because they have stood silently by and allowed this to happen without raising a protest or cry about it.
With the threat of global terrorism making air travel procedures tedious and time consuming, scandals and scams of this sort make air travel more dangerous and even more distressing. With the terrorist attacks on Paris, air travel is bound to be stricter. Thus, it is even more imperative that laws prohibiting possession and concealment of weapons or live ammunition be strictly implemented. However, the implementation cannot be made arbitrary so as to permit unscrupulous and predatory practices such as this extortion scheme to proliferate and prevail.
