Case vs HK-bound OFW dismissed

The case of a Hong Kong-bound overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who allegedly carried a bullet in her carry-on bag at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) was dismissed on Wednesday for lack of probable cause.

In a resolution, Pasay City Senior Assistant Prosecutor Willy Chan noted that Gloria Ortinez, who was charged with violating the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act, did not possess the bullet found in her bag at Naia Terminal 2 on Oct. 25 “with bad intentions.”

“The respondent is an OFW. There is no logical reason why she would possess the ammunition,” Chan said.

At 4:40 p.m. on that day, the complainants—PO1 Rommel Ballesteros and airport screening security officers Eurica Galang, Phil Anthony Abella and Rubilinda Rosal—said they found a carbine rifle ammunition inside the bag of Ortinez, causing her to be detained for 24 hours by the Aviation Security Group before undergoing inquest proceedings.

Earlier, Chan said in an inquest resolution that the bullet found in Ortinez’s possession was different from the one submitted to the Pasay City prosecutor’s office.

The prosecutor added that this “casts reasonable doubt on the identity of the subject ammunition.”

He also noted that the complainants had failed to prove Ortinez’s intention to possess the bullet.

“Nowhere in the entire statements of the complainants will show that respondent had any intention to possess the subject ammunition. The bullet is harmless without the corresponding gun or firearm to fire it,” the prosecutor said.

In a television interview, Ortinez said she was very thankful for the dismissal of the case.

Her lawyer, Spocky Farolan, noted that the recent decision would be very helpful not only to Ortinez but also to all the “tanim-bala” (bullet-planting) victims and “for all those who might be faced with the same situation in the future.

Ortinez, who has been an OFW for 13 years, is set to leave for Hong Kong on Nov. 14, together with OFW advocate Susan “Toots” Ople to talk to her employer about her contract extension.