The MIAA management said the probe was conducted following the request of Police Aviation Security—National Capital Region chief Col. Rhoderick Campo, who claimed there were violations in the handling of the flight bound for Dubai.
The aircraft is reportedly owned and operated by Cloud Nine No. 1 Leasing Company Limited.
The Senate Blue Ribbon committee is also set to investigate the alleged human trafficking using private flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The chairman of the House of Representatives’ committee in dangerousdrugs also called on aviation and immigration authorities to stop the use of private aircraft in drug and human trafficking.
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, the panel’s chair, calledon the agencies following the expose on the private plane that was allegedly allowed to fly out despite incomplete documentation.
He said that other than human trafficking, drug trafficking is likewise possible using the same modus operandi.
“Heads must roll with this incident. This cannot take place without the knowledge of those who are tasked to implement strict controls in the airports and all other ports of entry and exit,” Barbers said.
:My serious concern is the cargo in such instances. If human trafficking can take place, how much more with illegal drugs,” he added.
In a statement, MIAA confirmed it authorized the Airport Police Department to assist vehicles going to the Balagbag ramp last Feb. 13, following an official written request from Globan Aviation Corp. for the chartered flight they handled that night.
“The assistance of the APD was conducted in accordance with standard operating procedures requiring patrol cars to escort vehicles without blinkers and with no MIAA issued permit to the Aircraft Movement Area (AMA). AMA Permits are issued annually by the MIA Authority to its official vehicles and that of the airlines and other airport agencies with operations in this restricted part of the NAIA,” it stated.
“Globan Aviation Corporation, a ground handling company, obtained the necessary approvals from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines for entry-exit clearance; the PNP Aviation Security Unit for the Aircraft Exit Clearance, the MIAA for ramp entry of vehicles that transported the passengers to the Balagbag ramp, all of whom were processed and cleared by the Bureau of Immigration on site,” it added. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)
The MIAA assured it will leave no stone unturned “to dispel insinuations that persons are being brought out of the country surreptitiously without going through mandated predeparture formalities.”
Senator Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate committee on public services, in a privilege speech, said the Aviation Security Group got information about human trafficking activity involving an aircraft with tail no. N9527E, which was set to leave the airport at 10 p.m. bound for Dubai.
After verification and confirmation of the information, it was learned that six passengers were declared although 14 people boarded the aircraft.
The senator said the airplane was operated by Cloud Nine No. 1 Leasing Company Limited, a Hong Kong-registered leasing company. Their assigned aircraft ground handler is Globan Aviation Service Corporation, a local company.
According to Poe, the PNP Aviation Security Group then told aircraft inspectors of the possible operation and directed them not to sign any document not until the inspection of the aircraft and the passengers.
Around 9:15 pm, three foreign national crew boarded the plane. Two vans arrived. At 10:11 pm, another van carrying three immigration officers and three other vehicles with six foreign nationals arrived.
They were escorted by the Airport Police Department patrol vehicle.
In the flight general declaration, there were only three crew members and six passengers in the plane. But based in the information by Poe from the BI, seven passengers were in the plane’s general declaration, including a Malaysian, Korean, Chinese, and Vanuatu and three from Saint Kitts and Nevis.