Palace: Aquino not distancing himself from ‘bullet-planting’ scam

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MALACAÑANG on Monday said that President Benigno Aquino III is not detaching himself from the uproar caused by the alleged bullet-planting scam which victimizes passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said that the fact that Aquino held a meeting with officials from the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) on Monday morning shows his concern on the issue.

“We are not being detached. In fact, the fact that the President called for a meeting shows his concern for what is happening there and he wants to make sure—he wants to verify and validate all the assumptions that have been put out in media,” Lacierda told reporters at a press briefing.

Lacierda said that the President underscored the need to validate media reports, citing the case of a Japanese national who admitted that the bullet slug found in his baggage was accidentally brought from a shooting range.

“These are assumptions that we need to validate. That’s why we need to assume—we need to look at all the assumptions that were put out,” he said.

The Palace official said that the DOTC is expected to reveal its investigation on the reported cases of bullet-planting within the week.

Asked on its response on calls for the ouster of Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Jose Angel Honrado, Lacierda called for sobriety and said that there is a need to “correctly identify the problem.”

“Let’s identify the problem correctly so that we can come up with the correct [response]—we can identify the solutions also correctly. That’s the basic premise and the basic dictum guidance of the President,” he said.

There have been at least five cases of bullet-planting recorded at the Naia.