Poe: Resignation of OTS administrator not enough

The resignation of Office for Transportation Security Administrator Ma.O Aplasca would not be enough to stop criminal activities in the country's airports, Senator Grace Poe said Wednesday.

"A resignation at the top does not clean up its ranks," said Poe, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Services.

"More than ever, the Office of Transportation Security needs steady leadership to implement much-needed reforms," she added.

Aplasca on Tuesday night submitted his courtesy resignation to Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista, days after lawmakers pressured him to resign from his post.

The OTS has been on the receiving end of criticisms after one of its personnel was caught in a viral video swallowing $300 that she allegedly stole from a Chinese passenger at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport-Terminal 1.

Poe noted that actions should not be taken after the incident.

"There should be zero tolerance for criminal acts and unprofessional behavior," she said.

"While a witch hunt might put a syndicate on pause, the OTS urgently needs to review and tighten its security program," she added.

She continued: "Our airports should improve the physical layout of the security screening stations and provide proactive measures to prevent any further incidents."

She also noted that the challenge now is to appoint someone with "immense political will to overhaul the agency and stop these incidents once and for all."

The senator stressed that the OTS must improve its hiring system, and enforce ethics training.

"Employees must undergo extensive background checks," she said.

"In the long-term, we should also look into providing better compensation and benefits to these employees so they would not be enticed to do this nonsense," she added.

She also pointed out that the permanent solution to the problem is to give security of tenure and increase the salary of highly-skilled technical personnel in our airports.

As of July 2023, more than half of the OTS manpower are still contractual personnel with only 475 with permanent status.