MANILA, 30 May 2005 — A provincial governor yesterday returned a bag containing $20,000 which his aides mistakenly picked up at an airport security line, an official said.
Batanes Gov. Vicente Gatu turned over the bag to Akira Maki, 45, a reporter for the Tokyo Broadcasting System, who lost it on Friday at the Manila domestic airport.
Maki was on his way to the southern city of General Santos where two former Japanese soldiers were reportedly hiding in nearby mountains since the end of World War II.
Chief Superintendent Andres Caro II, director of the aviation security group, said the bag was mistakenly picked up by an aide of Gatu after going through the initial security check.
“Mr. Maki was undergoing the frisking process when he got distracted and momentarily turned his attention away from his bag at the x-ray machine,” he said.
“When he looked again, the bag containing 20,000 dollars was already missing,” he added.
Caro said an investigation revealed that Gatu’s aides retrieved Maki’s bag from the x-ray machine line, thinking it was one of the governor’s luggage.
