"Philippine Leader Blows Her Stack at Airport Security"

Tuesday, March 25, 2003
 
Leader Blows Her Stack at Airport Security


MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal gave the chief of
Manila's airport a very public dressing-down on Tuesday over what she saw as
lax security.   

The president, making a surprise inspection three weeks after a bomb killed
22 people outside the airport in the southern city of Davao, did not like
the way vehicles and people were being checked by guards in and around the
public parking lots. 

"There is no security," she told Ninoy Aquino International Airport general
manager Edgardo Manda in front of television cameras, her aides and
passengers. "What if something explodes?" 

A visibly angry Arroyo then took issue with Manda saying that some but not
all pieces of luggage taken to parked cars were subject to random
inspection. 

"I don't want to hear explanations, I want results," she said. "I want to
make sure that the area outside the airport is just as safe as the inside." 

Arroyo ordered Manda to ensure 100 percent inspection of cars coming into
the airport, bring in more sniffer dogs and increase the visibility of
airport police and security guards. 

Police are seeking to arrest about 150 Muslim guerrillas in connection with
the March 4 blast in Davao as security forces in the mainly Roman Catholic
country guard against potential rebel attacks in retaliation for the
U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.


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