Ninoy Aquino International Airport bullet planting scandal

In September 2015, reports of passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila being accosted and fined for possessing bullet ammunition began to receive attention from the public and later both the local and international press. These incidents were alleged to be part of a "bullet planting" scheme (locally known as laglag-bala [drop bullet] or tanim bala [plant bullet]) done by airport security personnel as a means of extortion.

As of 5 November, at least thirty cases of the scheme were recorded in 2015, according to the Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group (PNP-AVSEGROUP), with the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) recording only five such incidents.

In early November 2015, President Benigno Aquino III ordered the Department of Transportation and Communications to conduct an investigation of the alleged scheme. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) later confirmed that an extortion syndicate is behind the bullet planting scheme, based on their initial findings. According to the NBI's investigation, some porters are involved in identifying potential victims of the bullet planting scam. Allegedly, airport officials in the security and immigration services present in the four terminals of the airport pursue target victims after their identification by porters. Usual victims were found to be the elderly and "overseas Filipino workers" (OFWs).

On 31 October, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago filed a resolution at the Senate calling for the creation of a task force to tackle the issue. On the same day, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano called for the resignation of airport officials if they will not determine and catch the ones responsible behind the bullet planting incidents within 48 hours.Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte, a presumptive presidential candidate in the 2016 Philippine presidential election, further alleged that a syndicate is behind the series of incidents. Duterte said the operation had been going on for more than two years.

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