Newlyweds held at Caticlan airport over 14 bullets

MANILA, Philippines - A newly wed couple was prevented from boarding their flight to Manila last Thursday after one of their bags was found containing 14 caliber .22 bullets at the Caticlan airport. 

Chief Supt. Pablo Francisco Balagtas, aviation security group director, said the couple was to spend their honeymoon in Manila when security officers Jee Ar Flores and Christian Tesoro saw x-ray images of the bullets in the bag of Jerome Sulit.

When questioned by SPO4 Ernie Ramos, Sulit could not produce any document to legalize his possession of the ammunition, a punishable offense under Republic Act 8294.

He was later turned over to the Malay Police Station for further investigation and filing of cases.

Balagtas said he could not understand why some people keep ignoring the warnings despite the information and news updates on carrying guns and ammunition at airports.

Too many cameras   

With so many closed-circuit television cameras at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, some members of the Office for Transportation Security (OTS) claimed that it would be improbable for airport personnel to plant bullets to extort money from departing passengers.

OTS inspectors who requested not to be named said the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) had installed several fixed-focus cameras in all X-ray machines and monitors to allow departing passengers to view the ongoing inspection and frisking.

“It is impossible for any security personnel to plant a bullet without being seen due to several CCTVs that surround the area,” said a security official at the NAIA.

An elderly couple, allegedly victimized in the bullet-planting or tanim bala scheme at the NAIA last week, have tagged airport personnel in their extortion claim.

Esteban Cortabista, 78, and his wife Salvacion, 75, personally identified OTS screeners Ferdinand Morales and Fatti Dame Go as those who tried to extort P50,000 from them when they were held at the NAIA Terminal 1 last April 19 for alleged illegal possession of a bullet.

The couple’s lawyer, Public Attorney’s Office chief Persida Rueda-Acosta, said they are preparing the affidavits for the filing of extortion charges against the airport personnel.

OTS personnel also expressed concern why the bullet-planting incidents only occur at the NAIA terminals while no incident has been reported in other airports in the provinces where many passengers still believe in using bullets as amulets that give them good luck and protection when they travel.

“We brought this out after the elderly couple was held when a .38 caliber bullet was found in Cortabista’s luggage and they were prevented from boarding their flight to the US via Korea,” an OTS employee said. The elderly couple denied owning the bullet.

The source said the couple’s companion identified an airport wheelchair attendant as the one who asked P50,000 from the Cortabistas for their immediate release.

The couple earlier accused wheelchair attendant Niño Namba of demanding P50,000 from them so that they could be allowed to board their flight.