MIAA: No ‘noticeable mishandling’ of Saudi OFW’s baggage

The Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) said Thursday that there is no sufficient evidence to probe the allegations of a deported overseas Filipino worker (OFW) that his bags were “tampered” with by airport personnel.

“Coordination made by MIAA with the ground handler of Saudia Airline, it was learned that footages taken from body cameras of their ramp agents revealed that there were no noticeable irregularities or mishandling of baggage that would warrant a probe on the allegation of Montes that their bags were tampered in NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport,” Miaa said in a statement.

In a viral Facebook post, Andrew Montes, a Filipino deportee from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, said that certain items in his checked-in baggage went missing, as well as the valuable belongings of his fellow deportees.

“Pagdating po namin sa Airport ng Pinas, nagkalat na po ang mga gamit ko,at iba naming kasamang na deport din,” he wrote.

“Direct flight po kami from Jeddah to Manila. Nawala po ang cellphone ko, mga alahas at pera pati din po sa mga kasamahan namin,” he added.

Montas, who arrived to the country on a Saudia Airline flight last November 17, 2018, said that the Saudi authorities did not allow him and his co-deportees to carry anything with them to the plane.

They were instead ordered them to put all their belongings in their baggage.

https://www.facebook.com/1212122861/posts/10218535422636112/

Meanwhile, Miaa noted that Saudia Airline has informed Montes that the airline cannot be made liable for undeclared valuables placed inside his baggage.

“It was further observed from records that eleven (11) previous Saudia Airline flights yielded several reports from Filipino deportees saying they lost items from their luggage which were checked-in by Saudi authorities,” Miaa added.

The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) on the other hand also confirmed that Montes went to its office to seek help last November 20.

“He was advised that airlines have Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to observe and that compensation for loss of valuable items is subject to proper declaration during check-in,” Miaa noted.

“The visit was not docketed in CAB’s records because Montes chose to leave without lodging a formal complaint,” it added.

Meanwhile, Miaa General Manager Ed Monreal appealed to air passengers to be mindful of airline regulations and SOPs on baggage handling.

“It is their right to know in the first place,” he said.

Monreal also called on Montes to exercise care in using social media.

“Hindi nakakatulong sa ating bansa ang mga akusasyong walang basehan. Dapat maging mahinahon at alamin ang puno’t dulo ng lahat,” he said.

“Sa pangyayaring ito, muli na namang nalagay sa masama ang imahe ng NAIA at tingin ng mundo sa ating bansa. Nakakalungkot,” he added.