Amid recent reports of a bullet-planting scandal at an international airport in the Philippines, Taiwanese travelers to the Southeast Asian country have been urged to remain calm if they fall victim to similar scams.
Travel Agent Association of Taiwan secretary-general Roget Hsu (許高慶) said he heard of similar cases about 20 years ago and advised travelers to remain calm if something like that happened to them.
It is safer to pay the money demanded by con artists to avoid getting stuck, Hsu said, adding that people should also collect any evidence they can at the same time and make a report to Philippine authorities afterward.
He also urged travelers never to agree to carry items or luggage for strangers at airports.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III has ordered a thorough investigation into the alleged bullet-planting scam at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila.
At least nine travelers, including some from the US and Japan, were over the past two months reportedly targets of an extortion scam involving security staff planting bullets in their luggage, according to a report by Philippine media outlet ABS-CBN.
Travelers were then told to pay a fee to persuade staff to “turn a blind” eye, as it is illegal in the Philippines to possess live ammunition.
Some of them paid the money and were able to leave the airport safely, while there have been cases in which travelers have been detained for several days, it reported.
The scam at Manila’s international airport has created an atmosphere of fear among travelers to the Philippines.
Amid the scandal, many travelers have been taking precautionary measures, such as sealing their bags with plastic or wrapping their luggage with masking tape.
Given an approaching general election in the Philippines, some have speculated that the scam is aimed at discrediting the Aquino administration.
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