So corruption is still here? So what’s new?

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) has struck again, this time exposing in the national and local newspapers an official of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) which proves once and for all that corruption continues to thrive in this nation despite the fact that the country’s top official, deposed President Joseph "Erap" Estrada was booted out from power and is now languishing in err… hospital arrest. So what’s new?

The PCIJ article also proves that in the BIR corruption pays and it pays big! How many more hidden stories are there with people in government that needs to be exposed? I’m sure there are hundreds more out there that need to be exposed. In fairness, I’d like to emphasize that there are many rank and file BIR employees who are doing an honest day’s work, who’d probably puke at the corruption of their colleagues and the fact that they can get away with their dishonesty.

Mind you, that article revealed the corruption in Metro Manila. What about the BIR officials in Metro Cebu or Metro Davao? When will the PCIJ get to expose them? I’m sure the PCIJ doesn’t have enough people to go around sniffing out the corrupt within the BIR. What about the other government agencies? Certainly, the BIR is not alone in this… there’s the DOTC, the Bureau of Customs, DENR, the Bureau of Immigration, Gads, even the military (yes, as written by Gracia Burnham) hasn’t been spared! But perhaps the biggest question is, will their corruption ever be exposed? For the sake of this poor nation… we can certainly hope so!

Talking about corruption in the Bureau of Customs, a couple of years ago, rice smuggling was big in Cebu… even to the point of an entire ship slipping out of the hands of Customs officials. Yes, incidents like this became media fodder until the next breaking news came and yesterday’s big news is soon forgotten. Todate, we have no idea if there’s even a court case filed against the perpetrators of that rice scam. Sure, there were many investigations done against possible collusion between Customs officials and smugglers, but again, these investigations never blossomed into a court case, even just to find out whether the charges or accusations are true or not.

A couple of years back I got hold of a quiet investigation being done by a PNP Special Task Group checking a certain Eduardo Lao, a Bureau of Customs official… suspected of living a life of luxury. He purportedly owned several houses or apartments and luxury vehicles. Perhaps his family may be in big business for this fellow to be able to secure such huge and expensive assets? Now whether his being a Customs official helped his business… we don’t know. Hence, the question is, whatever happened to that investigation?

Meanwhile, I gathered that District Customs Collector Billy Bibit has allowed this Mr. Eduardo Lao to assume his new position as Deputy Collector for Operations in the Port of Cebu. What’s this? A Customs official supposedly subject to an investigation by the PNP is now allowed to assume such a high position with that cloud of doubt hanging over his head? Mind you, we’re not accusing him of anything except that, we would like to see the result of that investigation, so we’ll know whether he has been cleared or not.

Mind you, during the time of then Pres. Erap Estrada, a BIR Regional District Commissioner was placed in hot water also for alleged luxurious lifestyle and blatant nepotism within his own office. The last we knew on this is that a case was slapped against this fellow in the Office of the Ombudsman. But nothing has been heard of this fellow since. My suspicion is that, like the usual government practice, this fellow may have been transferred to another town until the heat simmers down, then he can make a comeback.

Finally, I also gathered that the new kids on the Customs block are the "bata-bata" of a senator. If this is true, then can we say that this "positioning" is being done in preparation for the 2004 elections? What’s strange is that, the senator involved is not from Cebu. Makes you wonder what the Cebu senators would do if they found out about this!

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A year ago, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmena suffered a stroke while he was standing as sponsor in a wedding. Five months later, Mayor Osmena is back in his duties running the day to day affairs of Cebu City Hall. Of course, his political enemies always wondered aloud how the Cebu Mayor was able to survive that near-fatal stroke? Well, call him lucky or should I say, Divine Providence may have intervened… after all God won’t take you up until and unless your job here on earth has already been finished.

If people want to know, Mayor Tomas Osmena is truly back to his old fighting self… even back to his once more denying entry to a SunStar Daily photographer inside the Mayor’s office, which of course, once again got him the ire of the Cebu Press. But then, despite the numerous advise given to the Cebu Mayor on how to handle the press, I reckon, this is his way of telling the Cebuano people that SunStar Daily has been used by the family of his political nemesis, former Mayor Alvin Garcia.

Indeed, Mayor Osmena has been the subject of scathing attacks from this newspaper as compared to the other two local dailies. Like what we said, this was not the first time Mayor Osmena did this to SunStar Daily. He banned SunStar reporters when he assumed office in July of 2001. Well, this point alone tells you that the Cebu Mayor is back in his fighting form… although we caution him to relax and keep his cool… after all, very few people survive a stroke like what he had.

Perhaps to check himself further, I got word from insiders in Cebu City Hall that Mayor Osmena apparently took a Henmon-Nelson Test of Mental Ability from the Calderon Educational Centre (CEC) in Paranague, Metro Manila. This is a branch of the CEC in 60 Marine Drive, Singapore. Well, his IQ Score was 128, which meant that he had a very high IQ, which translates to his full recovery as far as his mental state is concerned. One of the things he took was speed-reading which is something remarkable… after all, he has to read a ton of mail everyday. The test shows that Mayor Osmena now reads faster than most of us… he ought to get a speeding ticket for speed reading this fast.

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talk show entitled, "Straight from the Sky" shown every Monday only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 on SkyCable at 8 p.m.