Murder at the NAIA

Too bad for the NAIA Terminal 3. It’s the only terminal in the country’s main airport that looks like a 21st century aviation facility. The NAIA 3 won’t be included in the list of the world’s airports by the sleepinginairports website, which has been picking the original Terminal 1 as either the worst or second worst.

Now the NAIA 3, still embroiled in litigation, has earned a bad rep, for lax security. A town mayor, his wife and nephew and a one-year-old boy who happened to be nearby can be gunned down outside an international airport – if it’s Afghanistan, Iraq or some other conflict zone. But Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport?

OK, the airport got its name from the opposition leader who was murdered on the tarmac together with an alleged paid assassin – but this was during a dictatorship, way back in 1983.

The Iraqis, it must be mentioned, have pointed out to me that their Baghdad International Airport is much better than NAIA 1.

Baghdad International surely has a working closed-circuit TV camera at its arrival bay. Following the assassination of Mayor Ukol Talumpa of Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur near noon on Dec. 20, the nation has learned that there are no CCTVs in all the NAIA arrival bays.

There are security checkpoints at the entrance to all the airport terminals, stopping all vehicles. How did two gunmen on a motorcycle get past security?

The passenger (and triggerman) was wearing a police uniform, according to reports. Perhaps he’s a real cop serving as someone’s bodyguard. Or maybe he’s a hired gun who bought a police uniform in one of the stores near the entrance to the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters at Camp Crame.

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This season of joy is not a good time to urge President Aquino to make heads roll in the wake of this appalling breach of security at the nation’s premier airport. In the first place, the NAIA general manager is an original member of the Yellow Army and holds a special place in P-Noy’s heart. If P-Noy can’t let go of the MRT chief who is accused by the Czech ambassador of a $30-million shakedown, P-Noy isn’t going to let go of the NAIA manager simply for failure to install CCTVs at the airport arrival bay.

So let’s offer doable unsolicited advice, apart from installing the CCTVs. One is to treat police and military uniforms almost like security paper. The source of the fabric and badge, the tailor and distributor should be strictly regulated, with heavy penalties imposed on unauthorized manufacturing and sale of the items.

Then there are those motorcycles. A woman I know was walking on a busy street in Cubao one morning after withdrawing P30,000 in cash from a bank when a motorcycle pulled up and the passenger grabbed her bag with the money.

The bag’s strap was slung across the woman’s body precisely to make it hard to snatch, but the man held on to it and the motorcycle dragged her along the street until she was forced to let go of the bag. Badly injured, she did not notice the motorcycle’s plate number or if it even had license plates. Of course the robbers were never caught.

This was about seven years ago, when motorcycle sales were just starting to boom. The motorcycle has since become a boon to criminals in this country, especially in traffic-choked cities. The license plate is tiny, and the requisite helmet is better than a ski mask for concealing faces and getting away with anything, from bank robberies to the murder of journalists to drive-by shootings at the NAIA 3. Jackets worn by the riders easily conceal weapons.

A young Manila traffic cop, the son of another Manila policeman, was gunned down on the busy Roxas Boulevard service road in broad daylight in front of the Japanese embassy by a man on a motorcycle. The murder has not been solved.

The gunman who shot and wounded the wife of lawyer Raymond Fortun outside their home in BF Homes Las Piñas was also on a motorcycle.

Talumpa’s killers were reportedly on a motorcycle with no license plates. The driver wore a jacket.

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I’ve asked security officials what can be done to discourage the use of motorcycles in criminal activities. Some of their suggestions:

Motorcycle license plates can be redesigned to make the numbers and letters bigger, with heavy penalties imposed for driving with smudged plates. There are suggestions to use glow-in-the-dark paint.

The government can also require plate numbers to be painted prominently on the two sides of a motorcycle – the most visible part, under the seat. It will be like the requirement for jeepneys to have the authorized routes painted on the two sides, to prevent trip cutting and colorum operations. The state has a right to regulate the use of private property in the name of public safety.

Helmets can also be regulated, with only transparent visors allowed. There’s a suggestion to require the motorcycle owner to have the plate number painted prominently on the back of two helmets – the one the owner uses, and a spare for passengers.

These suggestions may not sit well with the Harley Davidson/BMW big bike crowd, but they will appreciate the regulation if they or their loved ones are ever victimized by crooks driving smaller, cheaper motorcycles.

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There’s another doable that’s a staple in 21st century law enforcement units elsewhere: a modern police communication system, connected to the security offices of tollway operators.

Cops must be able to send out an alarm to all units when criminals are trying to make a getaway. Talumpa’s killers reportedly fled toward the South Luzon Expressway. An efficient police communication system could have helped track them down.

Lastly, we need effective gun control. That was an impressive cache of weapons seized from a Chinese man at the Resorts World casino. Where did he get the weapons, complete with silencers?

Even if gun ownership is limited to the uniformed services and private security guards, however, it’s doubtful that authorities can enforce a total gun ban. Consider the deadly violence during election periods. The only persons who abide by a gun ban are gun owners who register their weapons.

The PNP can only do so much; some of the biggest gunrunners in this country are politicians. They bring in guns through coastal villages in their turfs, or else through contacts at Customs.

All these factors make it easy to murder a town mayor and three others right outside the NAIA 3 – and get away with it.