DURING my healthier days, I travel to Metro Manila, Cebu or Davao once or twice a month. Once or twice a year, I attend international conferences abroad. The hassles I encounter in these domestic travels are largely boredom while waiting for boarding time at the pre-departure. Or lately, the horrendous traffic outside of the Metro Manila airports.
Soon, I will have to contend with the laglag (tanim) bala scam. NAIA airport management are on the receiving end from complaints against airport personnel for allegedly planting bullets inside their luggage to frame them and extort money.
So worrisome is the situation in these airports that even the United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) has warned staff members against the “tanim-bala” scheme used to extort money from passengers at the NAIA. The UNDSS advised staff members to secure their bags by wrapping them in plastic, which has been the case for some Filipino travelers who have become wary over the extortion scheme.
The tanim-bala has gone viral and even respected international outfits from BBC, Time, CNN, Hong Kong and UK have reported on the news. Actually, the scam has been going for several years. In September 12, 2012, a BritPaul wrote in TripAdvisor that travelers should be careful at Manila Airport. The American travel website company reviews travel-related content and includes interactive travel forums.
BritPaul wrote that his “daughter had her bag scanned on entering the airport to catch a flight. The security agent called her over and searched her bag. He “found” a bullet casing and told her there would be an investigation and that she would have to miss her flight. Obviously she was very frightened and distressed.”
Continued BritPaul, “He then said that he could erase the images for the equivalent of $1,000. She had nowhere near that amount and said she only had $100 as it was the end of the trip with her boyfriend. They were taken to an ATM and the agent pocketed the money.”
I’m aghast that presidential candidate Manuel “Mar” A. Roxas II is making light of these scams. The Liberal Party presidential bet even blamed passengers caught with bullets, “Kung nagpasok ka ng contraband sa airport, paano naging problema ng gobyerno ‘yun?”
Roxas even went to the extent of politicizing the scam, saying that the “laglag bala” issue may be part of a demolition job against the government days leading to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Summit in Metro Manila.
Roxas should heed his running mate Rep. Leni Robredo who thinks tanim-bala is not the traveler’s problem but that of the government. “Further occurrences of the tanim bala scam will severely hamper our efforts to bolster tourism since NAIA is the gateway to the country,” said Robredo, in filing House Bill 6245 that seeks to decriminalize the possession of not more than three bullets.
She said that aside from extortion, the scam also abridges the constitutionally guaranteed right to freely travel as it prevents passengers from catching their flights.*
(bqsanc@yahoo.com)