Team DailyPedia
While security personnel keep on unearthing bullets at NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport), the alleged extortion scheme brought about quite a number of colorful quotes from both government officials and non-political persons alike.
The official statements regarding the issue had raised more than a few eyebrows and had netizens voicing their reactions on social media. Here are a few of the more controversial statements.
When news of bullet-carrying apprehensions first broke, the government seemingly downplayed it, professing it was merely an isolated case.
“…sa kanilang pananaw, ito ay isang isolated case lamang at hindi naman dapat ikabahala. (…in their view, this is merely an isolated case, which shouldn’t be disturbing.)” Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Sec. Herminio Coloma said last September 27 when the first few instances of tanim-bala were reported.
But as cases continued to pile up, officials were forced to hold a press conference over the issue. Statements issued last November 2 by Aviation Security Group’s Supt. Jeanne Panisan, opining that passengers bring bullets along as anting-anting (lucky charms) for protection had netizens immortalizing her in picture memes. At the same press conference, Panisan also professed: “Sa imbestigasyon na ginagawa, wala pa kaming napatunayan na mayroong nagtatanim ng bala.” (During the investigation, we were not able to find evidence of bullets being planted.)
This continued downplaying of the extortion scam had people complaining about the seeming detachment of the government—and the president himself—from public sentiment, forcing Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda to explain PNoy’s stand on the matter.
“We are not being detached. In fact, the fact that the president called for a meeting shows his concern for what is happening there and he wants to make sure—he wants to verify and validate all the assumptions that have been put out in media,” he stated last November 2.
Former DILG Sec. Mar Roxas—also the Liberal Party’s standard-bearer who is expected to continue the current government’s policies—found himself in the center of the storm. Roxas appeared to flip-flop over the issue, first saying that passengers are accountable and later saying that syndicates must be punished.
“Kung nagpasok ka ng contraband sa airport, paano naging problema ng gobyerno yun?” (If you bring in contraband items into the airport, how is that the government’s problem?) This statement said last November 4 by Roxas had people infuriated.
But it turns out, social news network Rappler took the quote out of context and subsequently apologized for the error.
Roxas, while still steadfast in defending the government’s stand on the matter, believes that if the scam is indeed being run by a syndicate, then the syndicate should be held accountable.
“I’m sure the DOTC is doing what it can. But iba’t ibang mga ahensya ang nakatutok sa ating mga paliparan no… (different agencies are in charge of the airport…) Ang punto ay, diyan sa isang libo na yan, kahit ilang porsyento pa yan diyan sa isang libong insidenteng yan, iyan ba ay lahat na makatotohanang may nahulihan? Meron ba diyang naging biktima ng sindikato? …Ang mga sindikatong nasa likod nito ay dapat ng mapanagot. Kinokondena natin ang mga sakim at makasariling taong ito na nambibiktima sa ating mga kababayan,” (The point is, in those thousands, no matter what the percentage is out of a thousand incidents, are they truly bearing contraband? Are there victims of syndicates? …The syndicates behind it must pay. We condone these greedy and selfish individuals who victimize our countrymen,) the LP presidential candidate said last November 5.
