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The special operations unit of the Philippine National Police aviation security group conducts clearing operations around the isolated Saudia airplane at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Tuesday (Sept. 20, 2016). JOAN BONDOC/INQUIRER IT WAS pilot error and not a hijacking that caused a Saudia Airlines flight from Jeddah to raise a security alarm at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) on Tuesday afternoon. Airport authorities ordered Saudia Airlines flight SV 872 to roll to an isolated area off the runway where security forces could assess the situation. The unidentified Saudia pilot reportedly triggered a “hijacking” alert while the plane was 20 miles from the Naia at around 2 p.m. Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Ed Monreal said “it was accidental.”  But he said the pilot was under investigation for the incident because “the problem is it was pushed twice.” 400 returning Filipino hajjis The alert caused the Manila control tower to advise Naia security that the flight was under threat. The plane had over 400 returning Filipino hajj pilgrims on board. “The MIAA together with the Aviation Security Group immediately responded and designated an isolation site at the rapid exit area near main runway 06/24,” Monreal said. Airport Emergency Plan 4, the MIAA strategy for a hijacking, was immediately put into action, he added. Although the incident was eventually attributed to the pilot mistakenly pushing the panic button, Monreal said it still had to be properly investigated. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, the Read More …

THE BUREAU of Immigration (BI) said on Tuesday it was on the lookout for some 1,200 Indonesians who may be among the 6,700 Filipino Muslim pilgrims returning from Mecca after joining the hajj. The agency said it would be confiscating the hajj passports of all Muslim pilgrims to identify the fake ones. Immigration personnel at the airport would be screening the arriving pilgrims and cross matching their confiscated passports with existing immigration records, BI deputy commissioner Al Argosino said. “We are doing cross matching of data to determine who are the nationals holding Philippine hajj passports. We are putting them in a holding room. We are not treating them as criminals but as part of our system to identify the Indonesian victims of this scam,” he told a press briefing. The official also asked for patience from Muslim pilgrims who would be affected by the screening process at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia). “I ask for your patience. As of this moment, we can’t determine who are the Indonesians unless we determine who the regular passport holders are,” Argosino said. The BI intercepted last month 177 Indonesians who posed as Filipinos with hajj passports who were en route to join the pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Most of them however were later sent home as they were considered victims, though nine remained behind to help in the probe of an interagency task force hunting down the syndicate behind the scam. Five Filipinos who acted as the foreigners’ escorts have been Read More …

PRESIDENT Duterte on Tuesday let loose a fresh tirade against the European Union (EU) after it had called for a halt to the extrajudicial killing of drug suspects in the Philippines. “I read the condemnation of the European Union against me. I will tell them fuck you. You’re doing it in atonement for your sins,” Mr. Duterte said in a speech before local government officials in Davao City. The President said the members of the European Union had become strict [about human rights] because they had “guilt feelings” over the atrocities they had committed in the past. He called them hypocrites, adding that a check of encyclopedias would show what European countries had done. For instance, he said, France and Great Britain had killed Arabs. “And then the European Union now has the gall to condemn me. I repeat it, fuck you,” he said. Mr. Duterte asked whom he was supposed to have killed in the Philippines. Assuming that the accusations against him were true—and there were over 1,000 killed in the country—he asked who were the people who were killed. “Who were they? Criminals? You call it genocide? How many did they kill?” he said, alluding to the Europeans. Latest Former justice exec says inmate testimony were fabrications NY Times teams with Google parent to tame comments US spy plane crashes; pilot killed, another hurt Cebu ‘drug dealer’ shot, wounded in attack Recommended Disclaimer: Comments do not represent the views of INQUIRER.net. We reserve the right to exclude comments which Read More …