A Chinese national accused five members of the airport police of extortion at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
According to John Consulta’s exclusive report on 24 Oras Tuesday, victim “Mr. Chan” said he was cornered by five uniformed personnel who introduced themselves as members of the airport police.
Chan said he was just accompanying his friend to NAIA Terminal 3 last February 4 when he was accosted at Gate 2.
“They asked for my passport. I showed them a picture of my passport on my phone, but they still asked for my physical passport. I said I am not a passenger, but they still escorted me to the fourth floor. They said they will arrest me because I don’t have a passport. They demanded P15,000 so they will release me,” said Mr. Chan.
Fearing for his safety, the victim complied and gave them the money. Afterwards he reported the incident to the Aviation Security Group of the Philippine National Police (PNP-AVSEGROUP).
While reviewing the CCTV footage, Mr. Chan was able to positively identify the suspects.
“Ito po’y may rango na Airport Police Officer II na, siguro ‘yan ‘yung team leader nila, atsaka apat po na Airport Police Officer I, ‘yun po. Bali lima po sila lahat. Ang statement po ng kanilang pinaka-station chief doon, wala na daw po doon ‘yung mga tao na ‘yun, kaya po hindi natin sila na-aresto during the time,” said Police Colonel Arnel Apud, Chief of PNP AVSEGROUP NCR.
(The rank of the apparent team leader was Airport Police Officer II and with him were 4 Airport Police Officer I personnel so there were 5 of them. According to their station chief they were no longer at the airport when our team arrived to arrest them.)
Police say they are yet to retrieve the CCTV footage from the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).
“Sa ngayon, wala pa pong naibibigay po ang MIAA, patungkol po dun sa request namin na extracted copies ng footages ng CCTV ng Terminal 3. ‘Yun po ay fina-follow-up pa rin namin hanggang ngayon para po mai-submit po sa prosecutor, at para mapagtibay po nang mas mabuti ‘yung aming kaso,” said Apud.
(Currently, MIAA has not provided our requested extracted copies of the CCTV footage at Terminal 3. We are doing a follow up so we can submit them to the prosecutor and to strengthen our case against the suspects.)
In a statement, MIAA said three of the five airport police officers have been relieved from their posts.
They said they are conducting their own investigation.
“MIAA General Manager Eric Ines relieved three (3) members of the MIAA police force after being alleged to have extorted money from a Chinese National. The MIAA is now conducting its own investigation on the incident. A review of the CCTV coverage covering the area of the incident will form part of the probe,” MIAA said.—Sherylin Untalan/RF, GMA Integrated News
