MANILA, Philippines - As part of a terror watch during the visit of Pope Francis, a jobless man carrying a backpack was questioned and a Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) “policeman” – who had a gun in his backpack despite an earlier prohibition – had been arrested, officials said yesterday.
Michael Sayas Banguardia, 26, was accosted by the police and the Presidential Security Group (PSG) less than an hour before the pope left for his state visit to Malacañang yesterday morning.
Banguardia was told to get down from the back of a parked pickup at the corner of Quirino Avenue and Leon Guinto street. He was then approached and interrogated by authorities but was neither arrested nor brought to the police headquarters.
Banguardia sported dark glasses and was clad in a brown polo shirt and maroon pants. He said his backpack contained his clothes.
“They interrogated me and then checked my backpack,” Banguardia said in an interview.
Authorities earlier announced that bags, especially backpacks, and umbrellas would not be allowed during the pope’s mass at the Quirino Grandstand tomorrow.
Standard procedure
The police official who talked to Banguardia told The STAR it was just part of the standard operating procedure to do random checks. He did not say elaborate on why they found the man suspicious.
In an interview, Banguardia claimed he came from Baclaran although he gave Phase 15, Tansawan, Antipolo as his home address. He said he was jobless and he happened to pass by the Apostolic Nunciature, where the pope would stay while in the country, and joined the crowd to see the pontiff.
Security was tighter when Pope Francis left the Apostolic Nunciature yesterday, as compared to his motorcade from the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City Thursday.
The pope was heavily escorted by local police, members of the PSG, and the Vatican guards.
There were suspicions that the threat to Pope Francis’ life could be serious when he emerged from the nunciature in a Volkswagen vehicle instead of the Popemobile and since his departure came half an hour later than his expected 8 a.m. schedule.
Maj. Xavier Celestial of the PSG said that the use of the blue Volkswagen Touran was “part of the plan.”
Celestial said the move was necessary because the pope was going to Malacañang as a head of state to meet President Aquino.
The PSG officer also downplayed reports that threats could have led to the delay in the pope’s departure, but stayed silent when asked more questions.
Previous attempt
Law enforcers foiled an attempt on the life of former pope and now St. John Paul II during his 1995 visit in Manila in what was dubbed as “Oplan Bojinka” by intelligence operatives.
Oplan Bojinka, supposedly hatched by Islamist extremists, was a large-scale three-phase plot to assassinate the late pope, to bomb several airlines flying to the United States, and to attack the Central Intelligence Agency by crashing an airplane on its headquarters.
The plan was reportedly a precursor to the tragic 9/11 attack at the World Trade Center in the United States in 2001.
Work as excuse
Meanwhile, Corporal Virgilio Perez, 61, of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) airport police, was arrested Thursday night for carrying his service firearm in his backpack as he tried to cross a concrete barrier along Airport Road just before the papal motorcade passed.
The MIAA airport police is the unit responsible for securing NAIA and is not part of the Philippine National Police. The PNP unit that works with the MIAA is the Aviation Security Group.
“He was accosted initially for carrying his backpack, which is prohibited as part of security measures. When frisked further, officers found a firearm inside the bag,” National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Carmelo Valmoria said.
Perez, who had a 9mm pistol and a magazine with 14 bullets in his backpack, claimed he did not violate any law since he was just on his way to work. However, police investigators said he was not in uniform and was not supposed to be on duty when he was arrested.
Perez also told investigators he badly wanted to cross the barrier and get a closer look at the pope.
Strict guidelines
PNP officer-in-charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina said Perez could use all his alibis but the PNP would still file charges against him.
“We have been warning the public about those guidelines. We are not exempting anyone; except for security forces, no one is allowed to carry firearms,” Espina said.
Aside from discouraging the public from carrying backpacks, the PNP also reiterated that even licensed gun holders are not allowed to bring their firearms near the route of the pope, since Pope Francis’ mere presence is considered a place of worship.
Director Ricardo Marquez, chief of the PNP’s Directorate for Operations, said policemen are conducting random checks on the streets for any possible threat.
Perez is facing charges for violating Republic Act 10591, the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act. – With Rudy Santos, Cecille Suerte Felipe