ONE of the things we Filipinos living abroad always look forward to and are excited about is the ability to travel back to the Philippines and feel “at home” in our Motherland, where we feel welcome, safe and taken care of. However, the recent headlines about the alleged “bullet planting” (laglag bala) scheme at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has created paranoia in the minds of not only Filipinos, but of the international media and travelers as well.
As Balitang America has reported, even the United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) is now warning its staff members of this scheme, used by perpetrators within NAIA to extort money from passengers.
The UNDSS says in a statement: “Staff members are advised to keep your luggage with you, lock your luggage and consider wrapping your luggage in plastic as an extra precaution.”
As of press time, the Philippine National Police-Aviation Security Group says that there have been 30 alleged cases of this “laglag bala” cases this year alone. Balitang America further reports that according to the The Manila International Airport Authority, there have been five cases of this bullet planting scheme in the last two weeks alone.
However, these passengers, including foreigners, contend that they were “framed”, and that the one or two bullets that the airport inspectors claim to have found in their luggage upon inspection were not theirs, but were planted by these inspectors in an effort to extort money from them.
Such is the case of Rhed de Guzman, a kababayan from Santa Ana, in the Los Angeles area of California. Rhed happens to be the sister of my “inaanak sa kasal”. The de Guzmans are decent, hardworking people. My “inaanak” sa kasal are both lawyers and one is even a judge in the Philippines.
We had the de Guzman family over for lunch a month ago and that is when we talked about the “laglag bala” scheme reported in the local media. To our surprise, Rhed turned out to be the person who first reported on social media about being traumatized by the experience. Her post became viral and she was even interviewed by several media outlets in the Philippines.
Her personal experience was very much like what the others after her have gone through. In a report by Steve Angeles on Balitang America, Rhed shared that last September, she was returning from Batangas to California. She was then wheelchair bound when she went through security inspection.
Rhed alleges that porters and airport security claimed to have found bullets in her luggage. These airport personnel allegedly told her that to avoid being detained, she just would have to pay 500 Pesos, which is about $12, to make the issue go away.
Rhed knows these bullets are absolutely not hers, but because the whole process was scary and she was even emotionally lost because her mother was then terminally ill, she decided to give the money they were asking for so she could hop on that plane and not miss her flight back to California.
However, she knew in her heart what happened was wrong, and so she started positing about her ordeal on social media so that the government could do something about it.
“Hindi dapat nangyari ito kasi nasa Pilipinas tayo…kapwa Pilipino…Bakit nangyari ang ganito? Tapos akalo ko noon titigil na kasi nakuwento ko na sa social media…Wala lang rin pala…Marami pang kaso, sunod sunod,” Rhed laments in the Balitang America report. She is ready to file a formal complaint soon.
“Stupid”, embarrassing, frustrating, in addition to the paranoia are some thoughts that kababayans now express about this scheme. They wonder why the government has not been able to be on top of the situation. How could this happen inside NAIA? (To be continued)
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
