EDITORIAL - Deeper probe needed

So it wasn’t merely a case of bullets used as amulets being in vogue among travelers. The other day, the National Bureau of Investigation recommended the filing of charges against six security personnel assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in connection with an alleged bullet-planting extortion scheme victimizing travelers.

The six are accused of planting a bullet in the luggage of a visiting American missionary last September and then shaking him down in exchange for his freedom.

The American and his Filipina stepmother testified at the Senate about the alleged extortion scheme. This probably put pressure on probers to look closely at his complaint and hold the six liable.

But the tanim-bala scam has other complainants. One of them, a woman who lost her job overseas after she was accused of illegal possession of a bullet at the NAIA, believes the NBI is covering up a wider operation. The woman’s lawyer noted that the NBI, in denying the existence of a syndicate engaged in the extortion scheme, echoed what President Aquino had said about the scandal. The President had also pointed out that only three out of 38 million passengers appeared to have been victimized and the story had been blown out of proportion.

The overseas worker wants airport officials held accountable for the scandal that has aggravated the image of the NAIA as one of the worst airports in the world. Even if airport officials may not be direct participants in the scheme, the worker believes they should be held liable for negligence.

Yesterday the Department of Justice corrected the NBI and said it was still looking at the possibility of a bigger group involved in the extortion scheme. Rather than being in denial, the administration that professes to tread the straight path must see to it that every effort is made to promote the welfare of travelers. Any extortion scheme at the nation’s principal airport must be eliminated and the perpetrators caught and punished.