Dizon denies tanim-bala is back

MANILA, Philippines — Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon said the bullet planting or “tanim-bala” scheme is not back and will not return under the current leadership of the Office for Transportation Security (OTS).

“We don’t believe that tanim-bala is back and these three instances showed that,” Dizon said in a briefing on Friday, referring to three recent interceptions at the country’s airports.

The incidents involved the interception of a bullet on March 20 and four bullets on March 24 at Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Another incident occurred on March 27 at the Clark International Airport, where a bullet was intercepted from a passenger.

Dizon said the videos and investigations of these incidents showed that the bullets were not planted by OTS personnel.

“In these instances, we don’t see an indication that there is a return of what happened the previous years,” he said, referring to the infamous tanim-bala scheme.

“But that does not mean that we will lower our guard and we will not keep a close watch. We have to keep our guard up and make sure,” Dizon stressed as he assured the public that the scheme will not return under the leadership of OTS administrator Arthur Bisnar.

“I know General Bisnar. He will never allow that to happen. And if ever someone can get through or there is an attempt, then good luck to whoever that is because General Ato will not miss it,” Dizon said.

He urged the public to post on social media reports of any potential bullet-planting incidents.

“We are monitoring those. We will investigate all these reports,” he said.