Just as the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) assured the public that there is no tanim-bala (bullet-planting) racket operating within its premises, lo and behold, a Taiwanese man was arrested for illegal possession of firearms last Thursday afternoon.
Chao-Ching Hung was headed to Taiwan via Manila on a Cebu Pacific flight when security inspectors noticed a suspicious big shadow in the X-ray monitor of the contents of his roller bag.
It turned out to be a KG-9 submachine pistol with silencer and three magazines, one 9mm Berreta pistol and 100 rounds of bullets wrapped in a lead blanket.
Hung was largely silent. He could only say “No English” when pressed to explain.
The incident in a way cushioned the public outrage over the high-profile reports of extortion by nefarious elements planting bullets in the luggage of nervous OFWs and elderly passengers who can easily be forced to pay up.
Last Wednesday’s MCIA press conference coincided with a press conference held by Transportation Secretary Antonio Abaya who tried to assure the public that there was no tanim-bala scam in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
His claim was shot down by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which said their agents have gathered evidence that the extortion racket had been going on in the airport for years.
Among the victims was an overseas worker scheduled to return to Hong Kong to renew her employment. Instead, she was detained after airport security personnel found a bullet inside her baggage.
Like the balikbayan box scandal, where gift boxes of overseas workers were opened by inspectors, with an eye for pilferage, the Aquino government chose to sweep the growing outrage under the rug by claiming it was an isolated incident.
Cebu’s arrest of a suispected Taiwanese gun runner showed that at least in Mactan airport, authorities are on their toes looking for the real security threats, not vulnerable targets of graft.
MCIA general manager Nigel Paul Villarete pointed out the sober, practical way of handling passsengers with bullets, that are likely talismans (anting-anting) or souvenirs.
As long as the items aren’t live bullets with gunpowder, the inspector can just confiscate it, issue a receipt, and let the passenger claim it when he or she lands. There’s no need to fear going to jail or be a sucker for extortion.
Information about the rights of passengers and the misconceptions that give tanim-bala power over clueless passengers is the way to go.
But much damage in goodwill and trust has already been done. What will the Aquino administration do about that?
Considering that the holiday season is near and the country is experiencing a tourist boom, we hope that this government will not dismiss this problem outright but actually do something concrete about it.