NCRPO wants spy cameras at NAIA waiting areas

MANILA, Philippines - The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) called yesterday for the installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at the waiting areas and parking lots of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City to curb robberies involving foreign tourists and overseas Filipino workers.

NCRPO chief Director Leocadio Santiago also directed the Pasay City police to review their checkpoints around NAIA to make it difficult for robbers, particularly members of the “Bundol (bump)” gang from going in and out of airport premises.

The Bundol gang’s modus operandi is to tail their victims from the NAIA, rear-end the victims’ vehicle, then rob them when they stop.

Santiago said he will coordinate with NAIA general manager Angel Honrado for the installation of the CCTV cameras.

“The CCTV cameras would help us monitor the spotters of the gang in waiting areas and also the plate numbers of vehicles in parking lots,” Santiago said in an interview.

The NCRPO chief issued his call following the rob-slay last Sunday of South Korean missionary Choe Tae Hwan, who fetched his colleagues from NAIA. Robbers blocked the path of their car and shot Choe when he fought back.

Santiago said businessman George Bernas, a brother-in-law of former presidential daughter Luli Arroyo; an American in Mandaluyong City and a Chinese family in Manila were robbed after they left NAIA.

Though the Eastern Police District (EPD) are still determining whether the Bundol gang were also behind the rob-slay of Choe, Santiago said “it is the NAIA which served as a common denominators of these robberies. So we must tighten our security arrangement at the airport and we can do that with the utmost cooperation of Gen. Honrado.”

The NCRPO chief vowed to make the neutralization of the Bundol gang as their top priority especially with the expected influx of Filipino workers returning home for Christmas.

Santiago also directed Superintendent Remus Medina, head of the NCRPO’s regional police intelligence and operations unit, to deploy teams to go after the gang.