Good news, bad news at the BOC

FIRST, the “good news.”

Before and just right after Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) Director Yogi Filemon Ruiz was appointed by Pres. Bongbong Marcos Jr. as the new customs commissioner on July 20, 2022, the waterfront got excited over the other news, quoting Ruiz, that his Chief of Staff would be none other than Atty. Ma. Lourdes ‘Dess’ Mangaoang, the petite, charming, highly intelligent veteran customs lawyer and book author who is also oozing with “cariño” that is the hallmark of every Ilongga.

I am not among those who subscribe to the proposition, to assuage the ‘doubting Thomases’ at the agency that, having been with the BOC for just about 5 years, Ruiz is already an ‘insider’ and his appointment should already be welcome news to the real old timers at the agency, especially in the ranks of the militant customs union, BOCEA.

For if there is one really genuine ‘insider’ at the BOC it would be none other than Atty. Dess, who, if memory serves right, has been with the agency since 1986—during the term of Comm. Alex Padilla, the first BOC post-EDSA commissioner under Pres. Corazon Aquino.

Thus, over the news that Atty. Dess would be besides Comm. Yogi, most people heaved a sigh of relief knowing that he, and the BOC for that matter, is in good hands.

Now, for the “bad news.”

This Monday, July 25, 2022, just right after Ruiz’s first press conference and after his formal assumption into office, the bothering development that had come out is that, no, Jose, Atty. Dess would not be the Chief of Staff after all. The position would instead go to a certain ‘Atty. Greg Largoza,’ a certified BOC “outsider” whose surfacing on Monday can be likened to a rabbit being pulled out of a magician’s hat.

Largoza, I was informed, is a lawyer coming from one of the regional offices of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) who, everyone can assume is personally known to Ruiz (he was PDEA RD in at least 4 regions before joining the BOC in 2017).

But insofar as the PDEA national headquarters is concerned, Largoza is a total “stranger” there. Just go and asked Ruiz’s “mistah,” PDEA PIO Dir. Derrick Carreon, which I already did.

In other words, entering the most crucial moment in the agency’s history and as PBBM’s first customs commissioner, Comm. Yogi would be guided by, well, a “novice” from now on.

In other words, too, if 5 years of experience cannot be considered as sufficient basis to call one an “insider” in the case of Comm. Yogi and therefore an “expert” on customs matters and its many complex problems and challenges, what more of his “anointed” chief of staff who may even got lost while strolling inside South Harbor?

Now, this is not to belittle Comm. Yogi’s personal choice as to who his Chief of Staff would be. That is his prerogative as customs commissioner. This is not also to endorse Atty. Dess to the post, despite the widespread dismay that her rejection generated.

Far from it. Again, it is the prerogative of the new customs commissioner and observers like yours truly can only watch, wait and see as to whether the BOC is headed for greater heights (which it is under Comm. Rey Leonardo Guerrero) or towards the precipice.

As the local saying goes, “buntot mo, hila mo,” a saying whose real meaning we know Comm. Yogi is completely aware of.

And yes, we have yet to discuss here the impact that another “novice” coming into the agency would bring, referring to new deputy commissioner for intelligence, PCG Captain Jaime Oliver Vingno.

Heck, some observers are saying he is more fit to be appointed at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), hehehe.

As to why? Abangan!