A former Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) whom authorities said might be mentally unstable was rescued after she barged through airport security and tried to board a plane bound to Malaysia at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 4 on Friday, Dec. 23.
Authorities were puzzled as to how the 46-year-old woman was able to pass through the initial security screening before she was subdued around 9:45 a.m. by the police. Other details of her identity were withheld by the police.
Police Col. Napoleon Dionido, chief of the Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group (PNP-AVSEGROUP), said on-duty security personnel Genie Eluaria flagged the woman who seemed to be in distress as she attempted to enter the departure check-in counters through the exit door of the terminal.
However, the woman allegedly sprinted towards the employees' entrance, passing through the check-in counters and the security screening of the Office of Transportation Security (OTS), before going up to the airport ramp where she was failed to be stopped by two more airport security personnel.
Dionido said personnel from the AVSEGROUP immediately responded after receiving a request for assistance to catch the woman. When the woman was caught, Dionido said she was brought to the police station where she was given food to quench her hunger.
Based on the initial investigation by the police, Dionido said the woman had a series of overseas work in different countries in Asia. Investigators also learned that her last known address is in Taguig City.
The woman was then brought to the Pasay City Hospital for a medical test.
Police went to the woman's address where they found her mother. The mother said that her daughter left their house without informing her, and she had been missing for a week now.
Meanwhile, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Cesar Chiong called for an investigation to determine possible security lapses that led to the incident.