President gives NAIA 24 hours to solve new ‘tanim-bala’ case

President Duterte gave officials at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) 24 hours to investigate the recent "tanim-bala" or bullet-planting incident at the airport, his most-trusted aide said.

Special Assistant to the President Christopher Go made the announcement to reporters in Davao City following the viral Facebook post of Kristine Moran on the incident.

Go said the government has directed the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), and Office for Transportation Security to

investigate the incident.

"Inaalam ngayon ng authorities kung saan nanggaling 'yon, kung ano ang puno't dulo. Kung talaga bang hinulog para mangikil. So pakinggan din natin, antayin natin ang imbestigasyon (Authorities are finding out where the bullet came from, what really caused this incident. If the bullet was placed just to extort. So let's wait for the result of the investigation)," he said.

"In 24 hours, i-submit nila ang report sa amin (they should submit the report to us)," he added, pointing out that the 24-hour countdown started on Saturday 5 p.m.

In a Facebook post, Go said that they are expecting the concerned government agencies to comply with the given deadline.

"We are expecting them to comply or face the consequences," he said.

The Palace official also reiterated the resolve of the Duterte administration to not let such incident pass.

"We reiterate - the Duterte Administration will never tolerate this," Go said.

"Sinabi na ng Pangulong Duterte noon, na 'pag nangyari pa ito, ipapakain niya 'yung bala sa taong gumawa (The President already warned before that if this happens again, he will feed the bullet to the one who did it), and I assure everyone, he will really do it," he added.

Moran, who claims to be a government official, said in her Facebook post that the incident happened around 2:30 p.m. on June 15 at the NAIA Terminal 3 Gate 2. She was going to Zamboanga with her child who had just been discharged from the hospital, and her mother who is a senior citizen.

She said that after passing the X-ray machine, she was held by the officer and was told that her bag would be opened for inspection. She obliged, thinking that what they saw was her "black box" or the small equipment used by physical therapists for treating their patients.

She added that the officers opened the bag but found nothing. Later on, a 9-mm bullet was found in the front pocket of her baggage.