Customs Apologizes After OFW's Toy Pasalubong Gets Smashed During Inspection

(SPOT.ph) The Bureau of Customs on Wednesday, April 5 apologized to an overseas Filipino worker whose aircraft toy pasalubong from Hong Kong was damaged during an inspection at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport- Terminal 1, saying it would review its procedures to avoid it from happening in the future.

This stemmed from the case of Filipina passenger Rachell Anne Ramos, who shared in a now-deleted Facebook post how she was held at the airport after Customs flagged her luggage as suspicious. Long story short: it was cleared of prohibited or regulated substances. 

"We sincerely apologize to the concerned passenger for any inconvenience it may have caused and recognizes the unintentional errors committed at the expense of our passengers," it said in a statement.

"We understand the importance of balancing security and passenger comfort. Thus, we will review our procedures to align with this goal and to avoid similar occurrences in the future."

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Why the Bureau of Customs examined the airplane toy pasalubong

The Pinay OFW shared in a Facebook post that she brought home with her a die-cast toy airplane when she went home to the Philippines after four years of working in Hong Kong. At the NAIA Terminal 1 while she was on her way to a connecting flight to Laoag, she was held by airplane personnel due to a "suspicious image" of her belonging, Ramos told GMA News.

The toy passed through the Customs' x-ray machine twice and was sniffed by the K-9 dogs twice.

"In previous instances, these x-ray machines produced the same images on toys and household items which later yielded positive results for illegal substances concealed inside them," the Customs said.

To avoid missing her flight, she told the Customs officer to just break the toy. In the now-deleted video, the Customs agent was seen smashing the airplane toy with a hammer. The damaged toy ended up in the trash.

"The examination was concluded upon confirmation that no prohibited or regulated substance was found inside the aircraft model," said the Customs.

Ramos has this to say to the Bureau of Customs:

“Mas maganda if mag-upgrade sila ng X-ray machine. 'Yung talagang malinaw 'yung image na sinasabi nila na ‘There’s something image inside the plane’. Confident sila sa sarili nila na kung ano nasa loob ng plane,” she told GMA News.

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