Manila: A 56-year-old female expat could be the latest victim of a scam at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, where unscrupulous individuals plant incriminating evidence on outbound passengers.
Gloria Ortinez, who has been travelling to Hong Kong over the last 30 years, vehemently denies that the solitary piece of .30 calibre ammunition airport inspectors found in her luggage belonged to her.
“I swear it is not mine. Why would I do such a thing? In the three decades that I had been travelling to Hong Kong, I know that carrying such items is illegal and can get you into trouble,” Ortinez said in television interviews.
Ortinez was arrested and detained after airport authorities claimed they found a single bullet for a .30 calibre M2 carbine in her hand carry bag at the NAIA Terminal 2 on Monday.
She said she arrived from Ilocos via the Laoag International Airport and transferred to her connecting flight at the NAIA Terminal 2.
At the NAIA Terminal 2, baggage inspectors said they detected a piece of ammunition in her belongings.
“If it was true that I was carrying that ammunition, then why was it possible that I was cleared at the baggage scanners at the Laoag International Airport,?” she said.
Ortinez’s case could be among a long list of incidents where airport checkers for some reason, suddenly found contraband items in passengers’ possession, particularly bullets which are banned by law from being transported aboard commercial aircraft.
In September a 20-year-old American missionary and a returning Filipino from the United States were arrested at the airport in separate incidents, also allegedly for smuggling ammunition.
Interestingly, in both cases, airport inspectors claimed they found a tiny, .22 calibre ammunition in their belongings.
Senators suspect there is much more to the incident. They say there could be a motive for extortion and that a well entrenched group of conspirators could be behind it.
Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr said: “We have heard of similar incidents before on this modus operandi to extort money from hapless victims and we all thought that with the media attention and investigations conducted this won’t happen again. That is why this latest incident is disturbing to say the least.”
“Because of the allegation against her, Mrs Ortinez was not able to leave the country and she could lose her job. Worse, she now bears the additional burden of having to defend herself in court and the possibility of spending time in jail. This means she is still on the losing end even if she is eventually cleared of the charges against her,” Marcos said.
Earlier in September, Senator Ralph Recto said planting evidence is illegal and could land the offending person in authority to life imprisonment.
“The penalty of prison mayor in its maximum period shall be imposed upon any person who shall wilfully and maliciously insert, place, and/or attach, directly or indirectly, through any overt or covert act, any firearm, or ammunition, or parts to a person, his or her house and effects … for the purpose of implicating or incriminating the person” Recto said.
