Manila: A top airport official has been suspended after he was implicated in an alleged human trafficking incident at Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Retired Brigadier Angel Atutubo was ordered to be placed under preventive suspension yesterday by the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) after he supposedly allowed 80 Filipinos to exit the country without proper clearance.
Atutubo, former MIAA assistant general manager for security and emergency, had reportedly facilitated the departure of Filipinos who were caught attempting to leave the country using a chartered flight.
The Filipinos had been apprehended while on-board eight vehicles on their way to leave via Manila airport for East Timor, the QTV station said in a noon time news report yesterday. Atutubo has been given 24 hours to give an explanation concerning the incident.
The airport security official admitted that while he allowed the eight vehicles to exit the airport premises, the permit did not cover the people inside.
"Let's just await the results of the investigation," Atutubo was quoted in the television report as saying.
It is unclear if the 80 Filipinos had East Timor as their final destination or were just using it as a transfer point to a third country.
In the event that the case against Atutubo proves to be true he will be the highest ranking airport official to be implicated in human trafficking.
Manila international airport has gained notoriety in the past for lax security.
Immigration authorities had been reported to have allowed persons without proper clearance in restricted areas of the airport in exchange for informal "fees".
