- Attendant who pushed grandma’s wheelchair in NAIA being investigated by police authorities
- Attendant was tagged by victim’s niece as the one who tried to extort P50K from her
- He denies the accusation, says he never handled the luggage of the elderly woman
MANILA, Philippines – PNP Aviation Security Group head Chief Supt. Pablo Francisco Balagtas said they are investigating the wheelchair attendant tagged by the niece of a 75-year-old woman as the culprit who allegedly planted a bullet in the latter’s luggage last Wednesday, April 20 inside the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The victim, Salvacion Cortabista, was supposed to fly to the United States with her husband Esteban but were stopped after a .38 caliber bullet was found inside her luggage during the final x-ray check.
They passed the first x-ray check without a hitch.
Cortabista’s niece, Fei Balagot, tagged wheelchair attendant Niño Namba as the one who allegedly planted the bullet and then attempted to extort P50,000 from her aunt after she was held for questioning.
For his part, Namba denied planting the bullet and said he never handled the victim’s luggage.
“Nagulat ako dahil sila lang naman ang humawak ng kanilang handcarry, wala nang iba. As a wheelchair attendant, connected kami sa pasahero pero kapag ganyang mga isyu, kami ang kawawa,” he told GMA News.
[I was surprised because they were the only ones who handled their handcarry and no one else. As a wheelchair attendant, we are connected with passengers but in those kinds of issue, we are the ones on the losing end.]
The x-ray operator who detected the bullet at the final x-ray screening also denied involvement.
“Nahirapan din po ako kaya ini-stop ko ang conveyor. Kasi noong ini-stop ko, tinitignan ko rin nang maayos. Tinawag ko iyong supervisor ko, sa kanya ko pina-identify. Hinila po ng matanda,” he said.
[I was having a hard time confirming it so I stopped the conveyor. Because after I stopped it, I checked it thoroughly. I called the supervisor, so he would identify it himself. It was pulled by the elderly passenger.]
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