Sandra Cam on Naia incident: Not true

The Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) shrugged off on Monday last month’s incident involving former jueteng whistle-blower Sandra Cam and an airport worker, saying it had already dealt with the matter.

“The Miaa exercised prudence in handling the incident, bearing in mind that public service transcends all types of situations in the workplace,” it said in a brief statement.

It added: “It is thus our desire not to belabor the issue in the interest of all parties.”

The Inquirer reported over the weekend that on Feb. 16, Cam, who was then bound for Masbate, lost her temper when an employee of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) asked her to pay the P1,200 fee for using the VIP lounge. Only government officials can use the lounge for free.

Cam gave the employee a tongue-lashing peppered with curses and name-dropped Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go, claiming she was going to be appointed to a government post in three months’ time.

Although the airport worker and her supervisor accommodated her, Cam continued to take offense, threatening to have the former fired.

But in an interview on Monday, the former jueteng whistle-blower denied having made the boast. “It’s not that I made yabang (boasted) because I’m not mayabang (arrogant) anyway,” Cam told ANC on Monday.

“It’s not true that I shouted at her. It’s not true that I was bragging that I will be [a] Cabinet secretary… in three months. That’s not true. What I said exactly was, you keep on asking me to present a government ID, you wait until three months, I will be joining the government and I’m sure I [will] have the ID that you need,” she said.

“When she [kept] on harping [that I should] present a government ID which I don’t have, I said, ‘Hija, I’m not a government official.’ The only reason the airport police brought me in there was because I didn’t have security and somebody might hurt me outside… I’m not a mayabang (an arrogant) person. I’m very simple but I do follow rules; only I was shocked with the way they were asking me for a government ID [while] I was on the phone,” Cam added.

“It happened in February. My question is, why [do] they have to bring up that matter [now]? This is a big, big lie. I’m a very simple person whose heart is really for the poor, the needy, and those who are being oppressed. And people who know me, even my own family, they don’t even know what position I will be getting in this government. I’m working hard to stop corruption without asking anything in return,” she said.

“They should have asked [for] my side because the reason I got irritated is because of the way the young lady approached me. I was on the phone and she was asking me for a government ID which I don’t have because I’m not working with the government. And when I told her that I don’t have a government ID, I showed her my ATM card which [has] my name. And I told her you can Google my name so you would [know] me,” Cam added.

She also denied threatening to have the Naia employee removed from her post. “What I said was you are not supposed to be in this job because you do not know how to handle people. You are so young but you are so rude,” Cam said. —WITH YUJI VINCENT GONZALES, INQUIRER.NET