Passengers queuing at the immigration counters of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 on August 2018. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) ordered the enforcement of a “no pocket policy” for security personnel at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) after the arrest of airport personnel involved in theft.
To recall, the Office for Transportation Security (OTS) on Wednesday arrested one of its own security screening officers after he was caught stealing a watch from a Chinese traveler.
Meanwhile, earlier this week, two OTS personnel also faced similar complaints after they were caught stealing cash from a Thai tourist.
According to MIAA General Manager Cesar Chiong in a statement, these cases of theft compelled him to order the strict enforcement of MIAA’s service standard policies, which include prohibiting security personnel to interact directly with passengers from bringing bags into their area of assignment, as well as a “no pocket policy” for uniforms and jackets of airport personnel.
“Even though these people manning the screening areas are employees of the OTS and not of the MIAA, they still operate in NAIA which we administer,” said Chiong.
“It happened under our roof, so it is critical that we resolve these issues so as not to cause alarm among passengers and affect their confidence to travel to the Philippines,” he added.
Further, Chiong said he also ordered the installation of an additional camera on top of the screening machine at the transit area of Terminal 2, and the removal of the film that covers glass panels which obscures the transparency of the security screening procedure.
“We are trying to remove all possible forms of obstruction. This is one of our major deterrents to illegal acts such as pilferage or theft. These facility changes will not be limited to Terminal 2,” Chiong said.
A thorough review of blind spots across all terminals was also conducted to improve CCTV deployment.
After the reported thefts, MIAA worked with OTS to improve vetting and background checks on their security personnel. —with reports from Denver Godezano, trainee