Screening officers of the Office for Transportation Security (OTS) posted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) were sacked after videos showing them allegedly taking money from a departing Thai tourist made the rounds on social media.
The victim posted the videos on Facebook, which showed OTS officers stuff their pockets at a security checkpoint. The videos were taken by his companion, also a Thai national.
Another video shows the tourist asking staff to return the money taken from him, which amounted to JPY20,000 (PHP8,000; US$146.92). OTS staff were seen returning the money to the victim. In the same video, a female officer pleads with the victim to delete the video after another officer instructed her to do so.
After the videos circulated, OTS officials said four of the screening officers were job order personnel hired last year. The other was a contractual employee who had been working there for five years.
The officials said that criminal and administrative cases would be filed against them.
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