Travelers bound for the United States are now prohibited from carrying any kind of liquids, gels, lotions or similar items in hand-carried luggage after British security forces thwarted an alleged plot to blow up several US-bound airliners in mid-flight using explosives concealed in sports drinks bottles.
The new restrictions applied mostly to flights going to the United States, in line with US government edicts against liquids or gels in hand-carried baggage.
The Bureau of Immigration has also placed on high alert other Philippine airports that allow international flights — Cebu, Clark, Davao, Laoag, Mactan, Subic and Zamboanga.
The Department of Transportation and Communications has ordered security tightened in seaports, land terminals and railways, particularly Metro Manila’s elevated passenger railways which were targeted by terrorists in the past.
All kinds of liquid, gels and canisters have been banned on Metro Manila’s Light Railway Transit and MRT commuter trains starting yesterday. Passengers were advised not to bring these items to avoid delays.
Director General Oscar Calderon, chief of the Philippine National Police, has ordered more officers deployed at airports, including increased police patrol cars in surrounding areas.
NAIA security officials held an emergency meeting late Thursday to decide on additional security measures, including disallowing any liquid or gel into aircraft bound for the United States, said Chief Superintendent Andres Caro, head of the PNP Aviation Security Group.
"Because of what happened in the UK, we declared a heightened alert at all airports in the country," he said on dzRH radio. "All passengers going to the US will not be allowed to carry any liquid or gel of any kind or size inside the airplane."
People carrying liquid medicines will be required to show a prescription, he said, adding the security measures started late Thursday.
"The objective is to prevent the entry of liquid bombs," Caro said.
The Manila International Airport Authority has urged duty-free shops to discourage travelers from buying liquids, gels and other items to avoid delays in checking in at the airport.
Rolando Estabillo, vice president for corporate communications of flag carrier Philippine Airlines, which flies at least thrice daily directly to the United States, said handcarried bags will still be allowed into the planes but advised passengers to put liquids and gels into their check-in luggage.
"We have done this before. We are just adopting the same procedure," Estabillo said.
An earlier plot to bomb US-bound aircraft was hatched in Manila in 1995 by Ramzi Yousef — the alleged mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing — who was convicted in a US trial in 1996 for the plot, along with Abdul Hakim Murad and Wali Khan Amin Shah.
Yousef also was found guilty of killing a Japanese passenger with a liquid bomb on a Philippines Airlines jet in 1994 that US prosecutors called a test run.
That plot, dubbed "Project Bojinka," was the first sign that large-scale plane attacks were being considered by terror groups. It was foiled by Murad’s arrest in January 1995 after fire broke out in the Manila apartment he shared with Yousef, who fled to Pakistan where he was arrested a month later.
Bangkok’s international airport deployed 25 bomb-sniffing dogs and extra security guards with handheld scanners while urging passengers to minimize carry-on items.
"For the time being, we would like to suggest that passengers bring along only necessary items," said Suraphol Isaragurana Ayuthaya, Thai Airways International flight operations manager.
"They should refrain from taking liquids, electrical appliances and any kind of gel."
Australian flagship airline Qantas Airways Ltd. said tighter security checks with bans on liquids and gels in hand luggage would only apply to its flights to the United States. But Prime Minister John Howard said concerns about liquid explosives could lead to permanent restrictions on hand luggage on international and domestic flights.
"The potential use of liquid explosives brings a whole new menacing dimension to the terrorist threat," Howard told Melbourne radio 3AW. "It is a reminder sadly to all of us that terrorism is still a very alive and menacing threat to the kind of existence that we’ve all taken for granted."
Hong Kong’s Airport Authority warned people flying on American carriers to show up three hours early for a security check.
Cathay Pacific Airways spokeswoman Carolyn Leung declined to comment on how the terror threat might affect the airline, which flies several routes to America and Europe - including four daily flights to and from London. But Leung said flights to London from Hong Kong would likely be delayed.
Japan’s two main carriers, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airlines, also said a liquids ban applied to US-bound flights.
Two security officials at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta airport said security had not been tightened, and there had been no new restrictions on what passengers on international flights could take on board.
"We heard about the terror plot at London’s Heathrow airport, but there are no instructions to raise security procedures here.
Everything is going normally," airport police officer Sgt. Franky Reinhart said.
Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez has ordered airport security personnel to be also on the lookout for foreign terrorists who might try to sneak in.
Immigration officers have been given full discretion to refuse entry to foreigners deemed to be a security threat, Immigration Associate Commissioner Gary Mendoza said.
Mendoza said they will be "doubly strict and meticulous in profiling, assessment and screening arriving and departing foreign passengers."
British security officials said the alleged bomb plot led to the arrest of dozens of terrorist suspects in the UK and Pakistan, where the plot was believed hatched.
Pakistan’s ambassador, Muhammad Khan, said the arrests in the UK followed "active intelligence cooperation between Pakistan, UK and the US."
"In fact, Pakistan played a very important role in uncovering and breaking this international network," he said. "Pakistan is an important member of the international coalition against terrorism. We are playing this role to make the world a safer place. We abhor terrorism and are committed to combating it."
Pakistan has arrested about 700 terrorist suspects and al-Qaeda operatives over the past years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, he said.
"Pakistan has deployed 80,000 troops along our border with Afghanistan," Khan said. "We have carried out more than 80 operations in the border areas to exterminate the terrorists. In these operations, we have suffered more casualties than those sustained by allied forces put together in Afghanistan."
He added that Pakistan has counter-terrorism cooperation agreements with eight of 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including the Philippines. — AP, Edu Punay, Sandy Araneta, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Rainier Allan Ronda