The domestic airport in Bacolod City was on high alert yesterday, following the thwarted bomb plot at the London Heathrow Airport Thursday.

Aviation Security Group-Bacolod chief, Insp. Efren Laquihon, told the DAILY STAR, security measures at the Bacolod airport terminals were tightened to ensure the safety of passengers, and they are still waiting for further instructions from their officials.

Laquihon said his men will strictly scrutinize all hand baggage of passengers that could be carried inside the airplane such as bottled-water and juice.

While he is not discounting the possibility of attacks and atrocities at domestic airports, he said he is assuring the public that his office is doing its best to prevent them.

PO2 Clyde de los Santos, Administration and Operations officer of the Bacolod Airport Station, yesterday said they are deploying plainclothes policemen within the vicinity of the airport terminals.

They are now intensifying inspection to passengers' baggage that go through on X-ray machine while passengers are instructed to walk through metal detectors, de los Santos said.

ASG personnel are not allowed to file for vacation leave until the national headquarters issues an order to downgrade the alert status, de los Santos said.*DMG

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MANILA - The Ninoy Aquino International Airport here was also on high alert yesterday after British police said they had foiled a plot to bomb US-bound aircraft using liquid explosives, officials said.

Manila airport security chief Angel Atotubo said given the "renewed global threat of terrorist attacks particularly in airport terminals", the facility had been placed under a heightened security alert late Thursday.

Passengers were required to undergo an extra round of security checks before boarding all flights, and police patrols were increased throughout the complex, Atotubo told local television.

As the first flights left Manila early yesterday for the United States, airport police scrutinized both checked in and carry-on luggage, paying close attention to liquid items like shampoo and beverages, ABS-CBN television network reported.

Security checkpoints at roads around the airport complex were also put up.*AFP

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