Migrante slams Naia: ‘World’s best bullet detector’
A militant migrant group on Wednesday has coined a new monicker for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, calling it as “the world’s best bullet detector.”
Migrante party-list issued the statement after a Hong Kong-bound Filipina fell victim to the alleged “bullet planting” scheme in Naia last Oct. 25.
Gloria Ortinez, 56, was arrested and jailed after airport authorities claimed that they found a bullet inside her hand-carry bag at the Naia Terminal 2.
An overseas Filipino worker (OFW) for 26 years, Ortinez was jailed because she did not have money to post bail.
On the same day that Ortinez was arrested, a Japanese national was also arrested when bullets were also found in his baggage . Kazunobu Sakamoto, 33, was charged with illegal possession of ammunition. He posted P80,000 bail.
READ: Bongbong Marcos decries alleged ‘bullet planting’ on OFW | Japanese carrying 2 bullets in bag arrested at NAIA
Migrante party-list representative Connie Bragas-Regalado said that the alleged extortion scheme has become a “lucrative business” victimizing helpless OFWs.
“It is much too fantastic and too much of a coincidence for victims to be ‘biting the bullet’ one after another while this very obvious and blatant extortion scheme continues with impunity. We have reason to believe that all players – from lowly porters, to OTS personnel, to transportation security, to the PNP – are all part of the modus operandi. Ang lalakas ng loob, at ang pinupuntirya ay mga kawawang OFW o di kaya’y mga walang kamuwang-muwang na turista. Nakakagalit. Nakakasuklam. Perpetrators should be the ones biting the bullet this time around,” Bragas-Regalado said.
(What impudence; they dare victimize defenseless OFWs or unknowing tourists. It’s infuriating. Repulsive.)
Migrante also asked OFWs to be vigilant.
“Our message to our kababayans, let us continue to be vigilant. Let us remember that elections [are] coming. Come May 2016, let our ballots be stronger than their bullets. Enough of this extortion. Enough of illegal and onerous taxation schemes. Ang kailangan nating mga migrante ay proteksyon, hindi koleksyon (What we, migrants, need is protection, not collection),” she said. CDG
