Airport security guards accused of extorting passengers by planting bullets in luggage

For two straight years, the Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport was voted the worst airport in the world by the website Sleeping in Airports. It has since climbed out of the bottom 10, and now only carries the dubious distinction of being the eighth worst airport in Asia. But that was before airport security guards were being accused of planting bullets in passengers' luggage at security checkpoints, then threatening them with charges of illegal possession of ammunition unless they pay a fine.

Gloria Ortinez, a 56-year-old domestic worker, was stopped at the airport after a bullet was "found" in her carry-on luggage. She denied that she would carry any ammunition — and argued that it would've been detected at her departure airport — but she was still held in police detention for several days. Kazunobu Sakamoto, a 33-year-old Japanese tourist, was also arrested after two bullets were discovered inside the pocket of a shirt folded in his luggage. According to the BBC, the two are the latest to complain that they have been victims of the so-called "bullet scam."

The complaints from passengers began in September and legislators in the Philippines have begun to speak out against the Office of Transportation Security workers. "This is becoming an international embarrassment," Sherwin Gatchalian, the vice-chairman of the tourism committee, said.

An investigation has since been launched and there has also been an increase in airport surveillance — although some worry that even those steps aren't enough. "There is no working system that is guarding the guards," Senator Ralph Recto said.