Miss X plus Mister Ray equal X-Ray

Miss X plus Mister Ray in Camiguin replace the broken X-Ray machine. These luggage scanners can be found by thousands in ports and airports all over the Philippines.

The density of X-Ray scanners in the Philippines is outstanding. On the small island of Camiguin there are 3 of these machines! None of them is operational! Unfortunately these scanners need technical maintenance and spare parts which seem not to be available in Camiguin.

The scanner in Balbagon port is quietly rotting and getting rusty because there are no more ferries from Balbagon. The scanner in Benoni seems never having worked. And the machine at the airport seems to suffer from a stress break-down.

X-Ray stress

The stress came from the standard procedure in airports throughout the Philippines. There is a first scanner installed at the entrance, where you have to pass through a check when getting inside. The second row of scanners is screening your luggage before you are allowed to proceed to the gate.
In Camiguin one had to pass twice through the same metal detector and X-Ray scanner. Once when entering and then before proceeding to the waiting lounge. This must have been too much stress for the equipment. At least since last December the X-Ray scanner and the metal detector are out of order, already 2 months now.

Miss X and Mister Ray the fan cooled high tech scanners.

Miss X and Mister Ray assisted by agent Scanner

Miss X and Mister Ray – job completed

And there is more fun in Camiguin (and at Laguindingan airport). As a smoker I have always a simple lighter with me. These lighters are accepted by TSA and FAA. In Camiguin and Laguindingan the security staff always confiscate my lighter. In any other airport in the Philippines, and worldwide, my lighter passes. Having lost many lighters at these two airports, I now carry an old, empty or broken lighter with me. Of course they confiscate this lighter and make me smile. The other working lighter is somewhere else. And no, I don’t say where …

When scanning the Internet for this article I found a series of 3 articles in another blog: How To Get Illegal Items Through the Airport.

After the Kalibo incident, where a woman could board and travel on an international flight without a passport and a ticket, I got a bit more watchful. Security checks in the Philippines work absolutely randomly. There seems to be no standard procedures or at least they aren’t verified. A picture says more than a thousand words. Seen last Friday night in NAIA-3.

I passed here 3 times to go out of the building for a cigarette and of course got in at the same gate again – without being disturbed …

[GARD]