Office for Transportation and Security (OTS) personnel inspect the luggage of passengers at the final check area at the Ninoy Aquino International Terminal 1 in Pasay City on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (File photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — A total of 19 personnel of the Office for Transportation Security (OTS), an attached agency of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), have been fired since July 2022 after they were caught stealing from airline passengers, according to Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista.
“Actually, we have investigated 60 cases [of theft] at the airports [involving OTS employees],” Bautista said on Tuesday during the Senate deliberations on the DOTr’s budget request of P214 billion for 2024.
The cases included the Sept. 8 incident at Ninoy Aquino International Airport where an OTS screener was spotted on a security camera allegedly swallowing $300 in bills that she supposedly stole from a Chinese tourist.
The viral video was yet another black eye on the country’s main international gateway, which had been tagged before by a vacation rental management firm as among the world’s worst airports.