MANILA: Several screeners at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) were placed under preventive suspension for allegedly extorting money from a foreigner, the Office for Transportation Security (OTS) announced Monday.
In a video posted on social media on Feb. 22, a female screener was seen putting something in the pocket of a male screener. The same female personnel allegedly took the money of a foreign passenger.
The video also showed that the female personnel returned the money, which the OTS said was 20,000 yen or around PHP8,000.
In a TV interview on Monday, OTS administrator Ma. O. Aplasca said the victim is a Thai.
“We identified at least five personnel who were involved. They were immediately relieved of their duties and are under preventive suspension while we initiate the conduct of a formal investigation,” Aplasca said.
The official said the OTS will pursue the administrative case, and is also considering filing a criminal case.
“I think we should also exert an effort to file a criminal case. I look at it as a criminal offence already, which we cannot tolerate,” he said.
Aplasca admitted it was not the first time that screening personnel have been involved in alleged extortion. Since July 2022, the OTS had already dismissed 14 staff, whom Aplasca estimates that around four were involved in extortion. The other violations of erring personnel include the improper disposal of intercepted prohibited items, rude behaviour, violation of the “No Tipping” policy, among others.
Extortion cases were proven upon review of the CCTV footage, he said.
Aplasca said the OTS is doing what it can to improve the financial benefits of its personnel, and added that a meagre salary is not a reason for anomalies or corruption.
Meanwhile, Senator Grace Poe on Monday echoed calls to consider exempting NAIA employees from the Salary Standardisation Law (SSL) following a recent incident involving an airport security personnel caught in a camera allegedly stealing money from a Thai passenger.
Poe, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Services, admitted that she felt angry and ashamed at the same time after watching the video which has recently gone viral in social media.
“Suspension is not not enough because their job is so sensitive and it is not a good example if they will only be suspended and will come back again [to work],” Poe said.
However, the lawmaker also wants to look into the salaries of the country’s airport personnel that might be one of their reasons for committing such misdeed. “There is no excuse in doing something illegal when in need but the truth is, when you are so much in need, and not being properly compensated at the same time, you will be tempted to do these kinds of wrongdoings,” Poe said.
“Maybe our airport personnel should be well compensated so that they will perform their job properly,” she added.
