A returning overseas Filipino worker reportedly lost her two years’ worth of savings and other valuables when she accidentally left her backpack at the security X-ray of Ninoy Aquino International Airport on September 23, according to ABS-CBN News.
Elenita Casim, 39, was on her way to fly to General Santos City when her backpack was left at the security screening area at 7:00pm. Aside from an undisclosed sum of money, the missing bag also contained passport, air tickets, electronic gadgets and other important documents.
After Casim filed the complaint at the office of the Airport Police Department’s Police Intelligence and Investigation Division, airport personnel reviewed the CCTV camera deployed in the vicinity. It was discovered that two airport luggage sceening staff found Casim’s backpack and placed it on thop ot the X-ray machine.
However, when Casim returned to the machine, the bag was no longer there.
Police investigators are coordinating with the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Airport Transport Security to identify the two baggage screeners who handled Casim’s backpack. The victim has also planned to file a formal complaint at the Pasay Prosecutor’s Office.
NAIA has been on the receiving end of negative reports. Just last week, an alleged modus operandi involving airport staff planting ammunition bullets — a prohibited material that carries harsh punishment — were planted on the luggage of unsuspecting travelers as a way of extorting money.
A wheelchair-bound Filipino balikbayan Rhed Austria de Guzman recalled on Facebook her ordeal when she was forced to pay P500 to NAIA staff plus P200 to a porter after two bullets were ‘found’ on one of her luggage. A few days later, Lane Michael White, a first-time visitor to the Philippines from Florida who came forward to report a similar incident and being approached by an officer asking for P30,000 in exchange for not facing charges after a bullet was ‘discovered’ on his bag. He was detained six days before posting a P40,000 bail.
NAIA’s reputation sunk rock-bottom when it was declared as worst airport in the world in 2011 by Sleeping in Airports website.
File photo credit: www.interaksyon.com