Palace says no 'tanim bala' incident in NAIA as passenger wasn't extorted

MANILA, Philippines — The recent incident at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) was not a case of "tanim bala" or bullet planting because the passenger involved was allowed to leave, the Palace said Monday. 

Fears that the "tanim bala" extortion scheme has been revived mounted after a Facebook post by passenger Kristine Moran who claimed that a 9 mm bullet was planted in her luggage.

Moran, who was bound for Zamboanga City, said the bullet was detected when her luggage went through x-ray inspection at the NAIA Terminal 3 last Friday. President Rodrigo Duterte has asked airport authorities to look into the incident and to report to him the results of their investigation. 

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte has received the report submitted by airport authorities, who concluded that it was not a case of "tanim bala."

"It's not really tanim bala. If it were a case of tanim bala, you would not be allowed to leave once a gun was found in your luggage. The corrupt personnel will extort money from you before they allow you to leave. Of course, the passengers who want to leave, especially the OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) will just give in to their demand," Roque said in Filipino.

"In this case, they found a bullet but allowed the passenger to leave," he added.

Citing investigation by airport authorities, Roque said the passenger has a relative from the military and a brother who is a policeman. It appeared that Moran did not own the luggage that contained the bullet, he added.  

"So we do not consider it a tanim bala incident because the flight was not disrupted. The bullet was just confiscated and the passenger was allowed to leave," Roque said. 

The "tanim bala" extortion scheme was exposed during the time of former President Benigno Aquino III. Corrupt officials involved in the scheme plant bullets to blackmail passengers into paying huge sums in exchange for a security clearance. — Alexis Romero