A domestic worker working in Hong Kong for 20 years, 56-year-old Gloria Ortinez was bound there last October 25, 2015 on a 7-PM flight when she was held by members of the Office for Transportation Security (OTS) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminal 2 because they allegedly found one bullet of a Carbine rifle in her hand carry bag.
In a report on TV Patrol, S/Supt. Ricardo Layug, Chief of the PNP-AVSEGROUP, NCR, insisted that Ortinez was at fault because after she was stopped because security officials found a bullet when her bag was scanned through the X-ray machine, she supposedly found it right away; thus, he believes she knew where the bullet was because it was her who placed it there.
Layug also denied the existence of the so-called “laglag bala” gang inside the NAIA, saying there are plenty of CCTVs around; thus, not one of the employees would attempt to place bullets into passengers’ bags. He said authorities will be reviewing CCTV footage of the incident.
The bullet supposedly found in Ortinez’s bag was placed inside a small plastic bag along with a red cloth. According to PNP-Aviation Security Group Director Police chief Supt. Pablo Francisco Balagtas, such objects are often used as charms or amulets.
Ortinez denies bringing the bullet, however; saying she knew that bullets are among items prohibited in flights. Also, she had just arrived at the NAIA from Laoag International Airport – and this airport did not see anything wrong with luggage.
Moreover, she would never jeopardize her job in Hong Kong just so she could bring a bullet as some sort of amulet for whatever purpose – after all, she has a family to support! She swears to have never seen or held a real bullet, ever, in her entire life and that she does not know anything about the bullet found in her luggage.
“At the price of executing me and my family by firing squad, my conscience is clear that the bullet was not mine,” she said in Tagalog.
Sadly, the police would not listen to her. She missed her flight and spent the night in jail. Her children had to fly to Manila from Laoag to support her; they are also trying to find money to take her out of jail. She needs P80,000 for her temporary liberty.
A tearful Ortinez expressed concern over what could possibly happen to her and her family now that she’s facing criminal charges for the bullet she had never placed inside her luggage…
Poor OFW, victimized by her fellow Filipinos!
Watch the TV Patrol report here:
Apparently, she’s not the only one to have experienced this modus. Check out these related posts:
- Netizen Narrates How NAIA Staff “Found” Bullets in Her Luggage
- Foreigner detained for bullet “found” by NAIA security; He refused to pay P30,000
Sources: TV Patrol/ABS-CBN News, Hong Kong News