The United States Transportation Security Administration (US-TSA) is recommending beefed-up security presence at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport after observing security lapses during the inspections it conducted last week.
The Office of Transportation Security (OTS) said the US-TSA noted the scarcity of security guards manning the airport’s exit and entry ways and the shortage of personnel conducting bag inspections.
OTS added that the US agency also observed that some airport employees were not wearing proper identification cards.
Commodore Roland Recomono, OTS administrator, said that while the US-TSA’s observations may be considered minor lapses, airport authorities are doing their best to address such concerns.
The auditing team also checked NAIA’s airline operations, security program, quality control, airport ID processing and access controls, contingency and emergency plans, cargo security, perimeter and terminal access control systems, and passenger and cabin baggage screening system.
The team has yet to officially submit its findings on last week’s inspection.
The US-TSA is a government agency tasked to conduct security assessments of airports worldwide. It performs regular security assessments of airports that host airlines with flights to the US to check their compliance to the International Civil Aviation Organization’s safety standards.
