here are some tips for avoiding it:

Use hard-case luggage, avoid bags that have external pockets

Some concerned citizens have posted videos of how easy it is to pry open the zippers of a padlocked luggage; all it will need is a ballpoint pen to dislodge the zipper to open the bag with locks and you won't even know that your luggage was tampered.

Plazo advised travelers to choose a hard-case luggage sealed with heavy-duty padlocks, so the passenger would easily know if their bags had been tampered.

He also suggested using luggage without external pockets. If it has external pockets — no matter how small or seemingly hidden — don't forget to secure it with heavy-duty padlocks.

Wrap your entire luggage in cling wrap

If you already have a luggage that is not a hard case, you can still opt to use it, but add a tightly-wrapped layer of cling wrap around your luggage for safety.

"Wrap the entire bag in plastic. The shrink wrap makes sticking in a bullet difficult," he said.

MIAA spokesperson Dave de Castro said that a new service to wrap travelers' bags is now available at airport terminals and a numbers of passengers had already availed of the service.

Let the officials go through your bag — but only in the presence of witnesses, a lawyer, and official's supervisor

Eric Apolonio, spokesperson of the Civil Aeronautics Association of the Philippines (CAAP), advised travelers to keep an eye on their luggage at all times, even as it goes through the airport security X-ray and walk-through metal detectors.

If an airport security employee claims to have seen a bullet in the X-ray of your luggage and insists that you are carrying contraband and proceeds to open your bag, Plazo said that you have the right to delay the opening of your bag until your lawyer, the airport official's supervisor, or third-party witnesses arrive.

When your lawyer, the official's supervisor, and witnesses are already with you, open the locks of your bag, and let the airport officials take it from there.

Plazo stressed that you should let the airport official go through the contents of your bag and find the alleged bullet seen in the X-ray, adding that if the bullets were planted, it will not bear your fingerprints.

"A bullet with none of your fingerprints sheds reasonable doubt on the possession of the said item," Plazo said.