EMMA ROSQUETA: Travails of a dedicated public servant

After spending the best years of her life being an honest public servant, giving her job the best shot at all times, Emma M. Rosqueta, 63, should be savoring the fruits of her endeavors.

Regrettably, however, she got caught in an odious web woven by spin doctors and political lackeys at the homestretch of her colorful career at the Bureau of Customs which she joined in 1962. Worse, her detractors seemed to have plotted her ouster as Customs Deputy Commissioner so that they can give the plum position on a silver platter to an outsider, unmindful that she earned her seat after 40 long years of working for the bureau in the only fashion that she knows how – with self-respect, dignity and honor.

Rosqueta, who is both a certified public accountant and a lawyer, in addition to being an A-1 Customs broker, is no pushover.

She perfectly knows her rights and ably used them to resist machinations meant to boot her out of the Customs notwithstanding the fact that she is a career service officer.

Rosqueta was promoted as deputy commissioner in charge of revenue collection and monitoring group in July 1998, and some people in the Arroyo administration wanted her out for no justifiable reason.

It was obvious that politics was behind the moves to bring her down, but she refused to give in without a fight, and she sought the intervention of the court to firm up her security of tenure.

A law graduate of the state-run University of the Philippines, Rosqueta also brought to Customs the enviable distinction of being a topnotcher in the Customs broker examinations.

She was a recipient of a Colombo Scholarship Grant and represented the country in numerous international conventions overseas regarding the Customs service, including the 44th meeting of the Policy Commission of the World Customs Organization in Baku City, Azerbaijan in December last year and the Orientation and Comparative Study on Air Express Consignment Operation that took her to Anchorage, Alaska; Louisville, Kentucky; and Los Angeles, California.

All told, Rosqueta held 22 positions as she rose through the ranks at Customs which was invariably tagged as "one of the most corrupt government agencies."

She served as examiner, appraiser, operations chief, district collector, special assistant to the commissioner, national project director and deputy commissioner (her current position).

For her exemplary service, she was conferred numerous awards, commendations and citations – mute testimonies that she did her job well.

Rosqueta’s woes began last Jan. 22, or two days after Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took over as President following a four-day military-backed popular uprising that toppled the Estrada administration.

Then Customs Commissioner Renato Ampil issued a memorandum directing certain Customs officers and personnel to submit their courtesy re-signations to the new President.

"The memorandum was for strict compliance," Rosqueta recalled.

Assured that such resignation was for mere formality and that she would be re-appointed to her post, Rosqueta complied with Ampil’s directive.

But two months have passed and there was still no word about her re-appointment, while some of her colleagues had gotten back their respective seats.

Prior to that, Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas endorsed the application of a certain Gil Valera for the position of district collector for either the Manila International Container Port, or the ports of Cebu, Subic or South Harbor.

Rosqueta found out later that Presidential Management Staff Secretary Victoria Garchitorena purportedly received on Feb. 16 her bio-data expressing her alleged desire to return to her former position as district collector.

Rosqueta also discovered that Garchitorena relayed the erroneous information to Finance Secretary Alberto Romulo.

In a letter to Garchitorena dated April 23, 2001, Rosqueta sought to set things aright. It appeared, however, that Rosqueta’s clarificatory letter was sent to the trash bin at the Palace, while certain quarters were maneuvering Valera’s appointment to her post.

She argued that Valera’s appointment was null and void, citing a litany of reasons.

Meanwhile, she won late last August the first round of her legal battle to protect her rights when she obtained a preliminary injunction stopping Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho and Customs Commissioner Titus Villanueva from implementing Valera’s appointment order.

Manila Regional Trial Court Judge Rustico Panganiban noted that Rosqueta "has a clear right to injunctive relief as her petition is supported by documents, facts and admission of respondents which may be violated respecting the subject action."