A Palawan mother who was returning home with her child has gone public with what she described as a deeply traumatic experience at NAIA Terminal 3, where airport personnel allegedly accused her of carrying a bullet in her bag.
The account, posted Sunday by Jackie Ortega Ubaldo on Facebook, detailed how what was supposed to be a simple return trip from Manila on June 5 turned into an ordeal she said left her sleepless and traumatized.
They had flown to Manila for her child’s enrollment and were flying back to Puerto Princesa. She had checked in online to avoid long lines.
But at the final security checkpoint, while their bags were being scanned, a female airport screener suddenly asked her without warning, “Ma’am, may pangontra ba kayong dala?”
Caught off guard, Jackie replied, “Anong pangontra? Aanuhin ko naman ‘yon?”
Instead of answering her, she alleged that the airport personnel simply smiled and called over two other fellow officers and a police officer.
One of them, she said, was wearing gloves and began filming her as they moved her tray, which contained her bag and her child’s iPad, away from the scanner.
Thinking the machine might have picked up a harmless item, she tried to explain.
“Baka kawali nakita niyo, may dala akong kawali, inuwi ko kasi mali nabili ko sa anak ko,” she said.
But what she heard next shocked her because they claimed there was a bullet in her bag.
“May ‘bala’ daw ang bag ko,” she said, recalling the fear and confusion that immediately set in.
“Sinabihan ko ang officer na, ‘Wag kayong ganyan, kapwa Pilipino niyo ginaganyan niyo. Domestic flight lang ako pauwi ng Puerto, gaganyanin niyo’,” she added.
As Ubaldo pleaded with the officers, she said her entire body was trembling, overwhelmed by fear. She recalled that she had only ever seen incidents like that on television and never imagined experiencing it herself.
In that moment, she said she became disoriented and could no longer see the people around her—only the officers remained in her focus.
A senior officer eventually asked her to calm down, telling her not to raise her blood pressure.
When she demanded that her bag be scanned again, the officer allowed it.
The second scan revealed there was no bullet. A staff member casually remarked, “Sir, nagpatong lang siguro yung bag at iPad.”
But Jackie said no one apologized to her—not for the error, nor for the emotional toll it caused.
She questioned the handling of the situation, saying it could have ended differently for someone with a heart condition. She asked, “What if the person had a heart problem and suffered an attack because of this? And then you’d just say it was a mistake?”
Jackie added that the experience was so disorienting that she even went home with the wrong suitcase.
“Halos natrauma ako. June 5, 2025 ang flight namin. Hanggang ngayon, halos kahit sa pagtulog ko sumisigaw ako at nanginginig. Halos lutang ako nung umuwi,” she wrote.
Calling the situation “sobrang trauma,” Jackie urged airport authorities to investigate incidents like hers, pointing out that many travelers have posted similar experiences online.
“Sana naman mabago na ‘yong ganitong nangyayari sa NAIA Terminal 3. Halos ang dami kong nakikita na ganitong post,” she said.
“Sa mga bumibiyahe, maging alerto po tayo. Sobrang bulok na sistema diyan sa NAIA. Yung akala mo safe ka pag nandiyan ka na sa loob, pero hindi pala,” she added.
Jackie did not say whether she reported the incident to NAIA management.
