MANILA – A chartered flight under probe for suspected involvement in human trafficking has obtained necessary clearances, including Airport Police Department’s (APD) assistance, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said Thursday.
The aircraft with registry number and callsign N9527E owned by Cloud Nine No. 1 Leasing Company Limited, left for Dubai on Monday night.
In a statement, MIAA Senior Assistant General Manager Bryan Co said APD's assistance to several vehicles going to the ramp was authorized following a written request from Globan Aviation Corporation.
"The assistance of the APD was conducted in accordance with standard operating procedures requiring APD 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 MIAA to its official vehicles and that of the airlines and other airport agencies with operations in this restricted part of the NAIA," he added.
Authorities are currently probing the chartered flight following a request from PNP Aviation Security Group NCR chief PCol Rhoderick Campo who reported that there were violations in the handling of the flight.
Co said the flight obtained approvals from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines for entry-exit clearance; the Philippine National Police-Aviation Security Group (PNP-ASG) for the aircraft exit clearance; the MIAA for ramp entry of vehicles that transported the passengers to the ramp.
All passengers were processed and cleared by the Bureau of Immigration on site, he added.
He said the MIAA shall continue with the probe leaving no stone unturned to dispel "insinuations that persons are being brought out of the country surreptitiously without going through mandated pre departure formalities."
The MIAA assured the public that investigation into the incident would continue.
“The MIAA shall continue with the probe leaving no stone unturned to dispel insinuations that persons are being brought out of the country surreptitiously without going through mandated pre-departure formalities,” it said.
In a news release, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco explained that chartered flights fall under the category of special flights, wherein passengers are not processed in the immigration area but are rather inspected near the aircraft.
He said they have conducted an initial verification of the said incident with the BI Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 management.
“According to the initial report, there were 10 individuals on board the said aircraft. Seven passengers and 3 crew were listed in the manifest,” said Tansingco. “All underwent derogatory checks and were compliant to immigration formalities.”
He added that an immigration officer was likewise assigned to attend to and process the passengers in the said aircraft.
He said an emergency meeting was called by the Office of the Transportation Security where immigration representatives explained the role of the BI in processing departing individuals. The BI is only one of numerous agencies that inspect departing and arriving special flights. Permits on security, health, duties and others are handled by other government agencies.
“The entrance of other individuals in the airport premises does not fall under the jurisdiction of the BI,” Tansingco said. “Our officers only process passengers, following the official General Declaration.”
Immigration officers are only given ramp access during special flights together with the Quarantine and Customs officers. They are also assigned in random except during Presidential flights.
During the said meeting, it was proposed that a one-stop-shop processing center be created to harmonize border clearance procedures.
“The BI highly supports this proposal, and is one with local law enforcement agencies in the fight against human trafficking. The agency appreciates any information that would lead to interceptions of attempted trafficking,” according to BI news release.
On Wednesday, senators called for an investigation into the flight at the NAIA involving a private aircraft allegedly used for human trafficking.
In her privilege speech, Senator Grace Poe revealed that the PNP-ASG received an anonymous tip on human trafficking activity involving the chartered flight bound for Dubai on Monday.
Poe added that the flight’s general declaration included three crew and six passengers but instead there were seven passengers—one Malaysian, Korean, Chinese, Vanuatu and three from Saint Kitts and Nevis—all with different types of visas. (PNA)
