Coincidence or not, the arrest of a Kenyan woman in the Mactan Cebu International Airport for possession of shabu and the death of a former whistleblower tapped in a House inquiry on drug trafficking showed the聽 success and聽 failure of the government鈥檚 campaign against the drug menace.
The arrest of聽 24-year-old Asha Atieno Ogutu by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation was made possible through a tip by their central office.
The three-kilo shabu packs found in her suitcase confirmed the sleuthing of the NBI.聽聽聽 It looks like an air-tight case of drug trafficking even as there is concern about聽 the plight of a young woman, obviously聽 recruited as a 鈥渄rug mule,鈥� who ends up in jail in a foreign country with no legal counsel to defend her.
While Ogutu鈥檚 arrest is a plus in聽 the government鈥檚 anti-drug campaign, one need only be reminded about a similar arrest of a couple of Chinese tourists who brought in suspected drugs in the Mactan airport, only to聽 be released quickly, after diplomatic intercession, when the items in question were declared to be 鈥渁gricultural鈥� chemicals used for growing food crops.
We are reminded anew of pledges by the Capitol to buy drug testing facilities at the airport to expedite the testing of suspected illegal substances.
On the debit side, the death of聽 whistleblower Bernard Liu, who was found strangled at home in Talisay City, 10 years after his testimony before a Congressional hearing on illegal drugs,聽 shows just how inadequate and ill-prepared the country鈥檚 law enforcement agencies are in securing witnesses before or after a public hearing or trial.
Abroad, witnesses of sensitive cases like drug trafficking, where the rate of reprisal or retaliation is very high, are given new identities and placed under a witness protection program where their movements are monitored and needs are provided by the government.
Sadly this was not the case for Liu, who along with fellow witness Ananias Dy testified against their former employers before an inquiry chaired by then聽 Cebu City congressman Antonio Cuenco.
The businessmen implicated in shabu trafficking were later cleared. Dy was gunned down by motorcycle-riding gunmen a few years after. Liu鈥檚 death, while suspected to be the work of burglars, eerily echoes Dy鈥檚 street execution, only the murder was done in the sanctity of his home.
Will聽 Liu鈥檚 death go the same unresolved route as Dy鈥檚 murder? And would anyone outside of the victim鈥檚 family care聽 about his gruesome fate?
The war against illegal drugs has its victories and defeats. It鈥檚聽 up to the government through the cooperation of a vigilant public to make sure that it is winning.