The other side of the coin

Some months back, this corner featured local Customs collector, Atty. Lourdes Mangaoang, for her boldness in cleansing her office from perceived shenanigans. It was also a morale booster for her who by then had made a plaintive cry that "Someone out there wants me dead", so TF bannered.

One does not retract the plaudit heaped upon the lady for her to make good her crusade to get rid of corruption in the public service.

In fairness though to certain dissenters, their side of the coin has also to be shown and, their opposite opinions heard or ventilated...

As a delayed reaction just lately, a lawyer-friend handed a copy of a follow-up letter-complaint - of the latter's client obviously - addressed to the Deputy Ombudsman-Visayas.

It mentions of a motion "for the preventive suspension of the Customs District Collector Atty. Lourdes V. Mangaoang of the Bureau of Customs in the Port of Cebu" and citing four docketed cases at the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas.

In gist, the complainant has moved for her suspension from office during the pendency of the aforecited cases, so as not, allegedly, "to continue her corrupt and illegal acts in cornering the issuance of Customs Bonds using Sterling Insurance Policies depriving all the agents including the Branch Office in Cebu to serve our clients..." by issuing a memorandum barring him and a mentioned lady from transacting business in the Port of Cebu.

Said complainant accuses Mangaoang of favoring other customs bonds managers/agents, to his purported detriment. The latter even mentions seven locally known business entities supposedly affected on the matter of warehousing bonds, from which Mangaoang allegedly "will also earned (sic) several millions in commissions", to quote him.

Now, that's quite a mouthful which has yet to be resolved by the Ombudsman-Visayas. In a way, the more pressing and transcendent issue at bar is the delay or protracted inaction on the part of the local watchdog against corruption. In fact, there are other cases and controversies which have dragged on for long that remain stalled and unresolved, such as, those excessive and overspending of some LGU's, the unliquidated cash advances, the super allowance scam at the CSCST, and the Pinamungajan town P100T "giveaway" to each employee.

Coming back to the Port of Cebu imbroglio, it's but equally fair that Atty. Mangaoang be given the chance to belie or controvert her detractor with regard to warehousing bonds controversy, that is, should she so opt to react.

To recall though, sometime ago Atty. Mangaoang guested at a local TV program during which she had occasion to justify her official actions, and to castigate her critics. One isn't sure though if she touched on the warehousing bonds issue.

At any rate, there's no gainsaying that a public functionary isn't invulnerable to criticisms, especially in such highly sensitive roost like the Bureau of Customs, already odiously notorious for questionable transactions, the balancing scale of which, whether good or bad, easily tilts to one end or the other.

This is especially so when the public functionary is perceived to be a crusading reformist, or one with clean hands. There are always those whose toes get stepped on and stubbed, rightly or wrongly, and who are prone to let loose accusatory salvo in retaliation.

The cleansing consolation in the final reckoning is whether or not one gets cleared by the balm of clean conscience.