Mastery required in airport security

“No cause for concern,” transport officials say of the US warning about Manila International Airport’s inadequate security. MIA complies with international standards, they directly contradict the US issuance. (Source: DOTr Communications, Dec. 28, 2018, “DOTr, MIAA, OTS: US travel advisory no cause for concern”)

Neither bluster nor befuddling will solve the matter, though. The US Dept. of Homeland Security raised the alert based on International Civil Aviation Organization rules. In insinuating that the US only wants to sell expensive equipment, the transport officials are exacerbating the situation. In playing ICAO against the US, they show incomprehension, from which problems sprang to begin with.

The US warning is but the first of graduated pressures. Any more hemming and hawing could lead to MIA’s downgrade to Category-2 airport. Flights between MIA and US destinations would be curtailed. Britain, the European Union, Australia, and Canada likely would follow suit. Passengers would be inconvenienced, cargo delayed, airlines restricted. Already MIA is red-listed, in fact. Passengers arriving from MIA are subjected to extra baggage checks in alerted foreign cities.

The US Transport Security Administration began auditing MIA in mid-2018. In Sept. MIA was given three months to improve security. It failed. So the US DHS fired off the travel warning last Dec. 26.

Lost for words were the MIA Authority and the Transport Security Office, both under DOTr. Another three months have been given for them to shape up. They mumble about already abiding by seven of 16 US conditions. Those include orders for new bag x-rays, walk-through metal detectors, and alarms. Baggage screeners supposedly have been instructed to alternately instead of simultaneously take toilet breaks (!)

But the core issue is proficiency. For mastery, officials must learn to think, eat, breathe security. Plans, policies, procedures always must consider safety. That includes halting their grant of hundreds of VIP passes to congressmen and their friends. They must look beyond their noses to realize that, after their and the congressmen’s terms expire, those passes could land in the hands of felons. Then too, after a congressman’s bullying of a security frisker, OTS personnel were able to splice and upload CCTV footages in social media. Favoritism that ruined nearby PITX (Parañaque Integrated Terminal  Exchange), DOTr’s only new infra-work in two-and-a-half years, must not infect MIA.

Airport officials need to be creative in dealing with new threats, like aerial drone intrusions. A Singapore Airline pilot’s complaint about such drone fly-by at MIA in 2017 was hushed up but not resolved. Days before last Christmas, Britain’s second largest Gatwick Airport had to be closed for hours and flights grounded due to several drone sightings. Authorities discounted terrorism, and blamed environment activists. Still, they didn’t take chances. Drone collisions can smash airplane propellers and ignite fuel lines. Last Sept. a drone collided with a chopper in New York, repeated in Oct. in Quebec; fortunately both aircraft were able to land safely. DOTr must push for drone registration, and installing of “geo-fences” or chips that disable remote controls of trespassing drones in prohibited airspaces.

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Sec. Menardo Guevarra and Okada Manila casino are victims of news falsity. Purportedly Guevarra is favoring the latter in a criminal case because it hired his son soon after he became Secretary of Justice. The to-do concerns a recent embezzlement rap against Japanese gaming mogul Kazuo Okada. Tiger Resorts Leisure Entertainment Inc. (TRLEI), the casino operator, seeks to recover $3.2 million from its ex-CEO Okada.

TRLEI blames Okada’s camp for the black propaganda. After suffering a series of legal setbacks, Okada allegedly is seeking public sympathy by ascribing ill motives to Guevarra. Yet the Dept. of Justice got involved in the case due to Okada’s own making. Last June the Parañaque city prosecutor’s dismissal of the fraud rap was leaked. Okada’s friend Chloe Kim posted the ruling on social media before TRLEI received a copy. Suspecting the city prosecutor of bias, the firm appealed to the DOJ. A state prosecutor was assigned to review.

Guevarra had no part in the review by the National Prosecution Service, an agency independent from the Office of the DOJ Secretary. He belies any conflict of interest, particularly that his son joined TRLEI in July 2018, three months after he became SOJ. The son had applied for and was hired by TRLEI as director for risk management as far back as Nov. 2017. Guevarra became SOJ only in Apr. 2018. The son had no role in the case, TRLEI asserts.

Guevarra recounts disclosing in June to the lawyers of both parties his son’s work at TRLEI, and assuring speedy, impartial resolution by the NPS. No objections were raised then. He reiterates that assurance today, since the NPS reversal of the earlier dismissal might be appealed to his office.

Early last year the SEC rejected Okada’s blocking of TRLEI’s IPO. A Parañaque court also junked his bid to be reinstated as casino director, shareholder, and CEO.

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Warning: the holiday heart syndrome can extend till Chinese New Year and Valentine’s. Cardiologist-internist Tony Leachon advises more workout; and minimizing alcohol, salts, sweets, cholesterol and stress.

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