House to probe MIAA plan to buy body scanners

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives is set to conduct an investigation into the plan of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) to acquire full-body scanners or virtual strip search machines amid fears that the equipment would be abused and violate privacy and human rights.

The inquiry was prompted by House Resolution 1115 filed by Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and Abante Mindanao party-list Rep. Maximo Rodriguez on the plan of MIAA to install the full-body scanners at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

The Rodriguez brothers said the use of full-body scanners was met with skepticism and protest as they use low-levels of radiation to detect contraband and provide “a very detailed image of the travelers’ naked body.”

“Even Pope Benedict XVI recently expressed concern that the scanners may violate human dignity and said that ‘the primary asset to be safeguarded and treasured is the person in his or her integrity’,” their resolution said.

“The proposed plan of the MIAA to install full-body scanners should be seriously studied because many issues are involved and many questions have to be answered,” it said.          – Paolo Romero

The resolution cited Equality and Human Rights Commission chairman Trevor Philips of Britain who had noted the scanners could run counter to the right to privacy.

Philips said that “while we acknowledge that there is a legitimate aim for this invasion of privacy we remain seriously concerned whether the intrusion is in accordance with the law” and that “national security policies are intended to protect our lives and our freedoms, but it would be the ultimate defeat if that protection destroyed our other liberties.”

The Rodriguezes said aside from issues on privacy, race and religious discrimination may also be encountered as profiling techniques to single out Muslims, Asians and black people for scanning at airports could lead to these races being the constant subject of “random” searches.