Transport Secretary Vince Dizon has fired three airport personnel who were involved in a tanim-bala incident at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) last March 6, 2025.
This came after a viral post on Facebook of Ruth Ante Adel, 69 years old, who almost didn’t make it to her family trip to Vietnam after NAIA security staff blocked her at the boarding gate.
According to consolidated news reports, after the final security screening at the airport, 3 security personnel allegedly followed Adel and her companions and approached their group and claimed that they saw an empty bullet casing inside her bag.
Adel searched through her bag but no bullet casing was found. Adel and her companions were irked when they saw the personnel laughing at them while saying their apologies.
This post has gone viral over social media and has been called out for similar instances to the “tanim bala” modus where security staff would hold passengers that they think have bullets or bullet casing inside their luggage, and ask to pay a penalty in exchange for their freedom.