Robredo: Decriminalize ‘laglag-bala’

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines – Representative Leni Robredo of Camarines Sur, who is now the runningmate of presidential aspirant Mar Roxas of the Liberal Party, yesterday announced that she filed a House bill seeking to decriminalize laglag-bala, an alleged extortion scheme that has become a scandal at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport recently.

Robredo, the widow of the late Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo, said her bill has been intended to deter extortion attempts, while discouraging airport personnel, who may be the culprits, from continuing with this modus operandi.

If her bill is enacted, carrying at least three bullets by an airline passenger would not be considered a criminal act, said Robredo.

The most important thing for officials in the executive department, for now, is to go down to the bottom of the scandal, otherwise the people’s trust in government would be eroded, she said.

Laglag-bala stories of Boholanos, who are overseas Filipino workers, are now mounting. One such victim, who asked not to be named, said he had to shell out cash or gifts for NAIA personnel to avoid delay.

Robredo, when asked on her chance of winning in the vice presidential race on May 2016, admitted that she lagged behind in the surveys and that she has not been so popular compared to her opponents who were already in the national race before. But she’s making strides and working hard, she added.

Robredo was the guest speaker during the 119th birthday of Bohol’s most illustrious son, then president Carlos Polestico Garcia, an event that carried the theme  “CPG @119: Living Inspiration of the Boholanos’s Quest for Pride, Humility and Cultural Identity.”

The CPG Day is a non-working holiday for Bohol only, in accordance with the law.

Officials, led by Governor Edgar Chatto and Vice Governor Concepcion Lim, welcomed Robredo and other guests, among them Education Undersecretary Rizalino Rivera, and Garcia’s son-in-law and CPG Foundation representative Fernando Campos.

Also on hand to attend the celebration were Tagbilaran City Mayor John Geesnell Lim Yap II, 3rd district Representative Arthur Yap, and Bohol mayors and other municipal officials.

The CPG Day celebration also conferred awards to the following: Jessel Mark Magsayo for sports; Enriqueta Borja Butalid (music); and Emilia Roslinda (social development), as well as special citations to Philippine Ports Manager Annie Lee Manese and Bohol Police provincial director, Senior Superintendent Dennis Palo Agustin. (FREEMAN)