THE Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) on Sunday, June 17, assured that "tanim bala" incidents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) are "a thing of the past." In a statement, the agency that supervises NAIA said erring airport personnel would be punished if proven guilty.
"We will not condone any act contrary to the directive given to us by no less than President Rodrigo Duterte during his first few days in office. We shall punish erring airport personnel if proven guilty of any abuse hurled against them," the agency said.
It also appealed to the public to be more circumspect in reacting to social media posts.
"As Filipinos, we are all duty bound to protect our country's reputation to the world," it added.
MIAA said it completed its investigation on a "tanim bala" allegation made by passenger Kristine Bumanglag-Moran within the 24-hour deadline given by Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go.
The investigation, conducted jointly with the Office of Transportation Security (OTS), showed that the luggage of Moran yielded a 9mm bullet, which was wrapped in plastic and placed at the bottom of the front pocket, on Friday, June 15.
The bullet was detected by the x-ray machine at the initial security checkpoint at the NAIA T3 terminal.
Airport authorities said Moran was informed about the findings and the search that had to be conducted.
"There was nothing irregular in the manner the search was made and same was done in the presence of Ms. Moran and other airport security personnel on duty at that time," the MIAA said.
The bullet was confiscated and Moran was still allowed to take her flight to Zamboanga. (MVI/SunStar Philippines)