DU30 stops airport pilferage
THE death of a company that employs thousands of ordinary folks is no laughing matter in a country like the Philippines, where the jobless is estimated at about 2.5 million, based on the 2017 report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
More so if the company has been in existence for 44 years, has 4,000 employees in its payroll, and has deeprooted connections with many other airport firms.
This is the fate that befell Miascor Ground Handling Corp. (MGHC), whose ground services contract was not extended by the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) and the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC).
Miascor employees figured in a pilferage incident, victimizing an irate overseas Filipino worker (OFW), Jovenil dela Cruz. He posted his traumatic experience on social media. The story went viral, reaching the eyes and ears of Malacañang.
Dela Cruz arrived last December 23, 2017, but it was only on January 10, 2018, that he got notified to get his luggage, only to find most of the valuables were missing.
Miascor, following investigation, admits their fault and paid Dela Cruz back his 180,000 worth of stolen belongings.
The fault of Miascor is that instead of bringing the luggage to the bonded warehouse, Dela Cruz’s pieces of luggage were brought up to the second floor office of the building. Because of the long Christmas holidays, other employees took advantage and ransacked its contents.
No less than President Rodrigo Duterte called several key Cabinet members and warned that he does not want a repeat of the shenanigans being done on OFWs’ belongings at the airport “or else, heads will roll.”
MIAA General Manager Ed Monreal naturally had to do something drastic to Miascor. Monreal and Clark International Airport Corp. acting President and CEO Alexander Cauguiran did not extend Miscor’s contract as a ground service provider.
However, Miascor will continue functioning in Cebu, Davao, and Kalibo.
One positive development is that the airport authorities have declared that check-in luggage should be on the baggage carousel 15 minutes after the plane has landed. Normally, pieces of luggage start coming out of the carousel 30 minutes after landing.