NAIA security screener relieved over extortion try

Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1

A security screener who  allegedly attempted to seek a bribe from a Filipina balikbayan and her Jordanian companion was ordered relieved from his post by Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) general manager Ed Monreal on Wednesday.

Carol Quebalayan, in an interview aired over radio station DZMM, claimed that apart from asking for a “side discussion” over the ube jam jar in her carry-on bag, the Office for Transportation Security (OTS) security screener Sergio Padilla also caused her and her Jordanian companion to miss their flight to Dubai.

Quebalayan said she and her companion were supposed to take a flight to Dubai on January 4, but as they were passing through the final security checkpoint at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 with their four pieces of carry-on luggage, they were asked by Padilla to open their bags .

The jars of ube jam were then discovered.

Quebalayan claimed that Padilla approached her and her foreign guest and informed them that it was prohibited to bring the jar in her carry-on.

“If you want, let’s go to that corner so we can talk about your ube jam,” she quoted the OTS employee as telling her in Filipino.

“But I told him, ‘We’re already running late for our flight. We don’t have time to talk about the ube jam. If we can’t bring it, then just confiscate it…Just tell us the procedure,’” Quebalayan said.

However, Quebalayan claimed, the OTS screener shouted at them, “If you don’t want to talk about it (ube jam), just throw it in the garbage.”

Thinking it a waste, she asked about the procedure so they  could still hand carry the jars of jam and was instructed to return to the check-in counters, which she and her companion did.

The instruction, she alleged, caused them to miss their flight.  Rebooking a flight to Dubai, Quebalayan said, cost them additional P100,000.

Monreal said that he received the official complaint on Monday and directed the MIAA-Investigation and Intelligence Division to investigate the matter.

Monreal said, “Padilla is currently relieved from duty pending the outcome of the investigation.”

He said that he asked OTS officer-in-charge Miguel Oraa for the relief since Padilla still falls under the administrative responsibility of the agency.  MIAA only exercises supervisory control over the NAIA security screeners.

Monreal pointed out that a review of the security footage at the NAIA showed that Quebalayan and her companion were already late for the flight and were not offloaded because they were delayed by the discovery of an ube jam jar in their carry-on baggage.

“They arrived at the check-in counter at 7:53 a.m. The departure time is 8:45 a.m. They got to the final security checkpoint past 8:30 a.m. at which point they had a discussion with the OTS personnel,” Monreal added.

While he agreed that a jar of ube jam is prohibited on a flight, because the glass container may be used as a weapon, he found suspicious the OTS man’s request for a chat over the ube jam.

“If it’s banned, it is banned. There’s no compromise on that…If you ask for a discussion in a corner, there’s already the perception that you mean something by that,” Monreal said.

Monreal said Quebalayan’s complaint is still being probed  by the MIAA Investigation and Intelligence Division.