Hardline new Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's move to end a bullet-planting scam at Manila's airport is being touted as a sign he is fulfilling his election pledge to crack down on corruption. As we reported yesterday, some workers at Ninoy Aquino International plant bullets in Filipino travellers' luggage then demand up to 30,000 pesos (Dh2,340) to avoid charges of illegally possessing ammunition.
This kind of racket is, of course, unlikely to be restricted to a few dishonest people at this airport and reflects a far more pervasive problem across the country. Mr Duterte is right to make tackling corruption a priority because this odious practice enriches a few at the cost of holding back the entire economy.
In this case, Mr Duterte ordered that passengers found with bullets in their luggage should no longer be arrested. Instead, they will be able to board their flights, although they will be assessed by the security authorities to ensure they do not have links to terrorism or other forms of extremism.
While this is a practical solution, it also addresses the symptom rather than the underlying problem. Corrupt workers accustomed to illicit income are likely to simply find a new way to scam money from innocent passengers. Corruption among airport security staff is particularly serious because it implies that people can bribe their way past rules designed to keep everyone safe in the air.
While Mr Duterte’s campaign against corruption is going to be a mammoth task, there are also systemic factors in the Philippines that allow corrupt practices to flourish. While foreign tourists were subject to the bullet scam, Filipinos heading overseas on tourist visas also faced missing their flights while disputing the accusation of possessing ammunition. Part of the solution to corruption in the Philippines as a whole has to be finding a way to achieve the administrative goals without giving corrupt workers an extra bargaining tool to extort bribes from innocent passengers.
