Parojinog fails to obtain PB endorsement for BOC post

The woman, who bid to replace Customs Collector Lourdes Mangaoang, yesterday failed to get her needed endorsement from the Provincial Board, which tried to grill her during the session over her qualifications for the post.

Purita Parojinog, currently the acting chief of the entry-processing unit at the Bureau of Customs-Manila, appeared at yesterday's session to defend her qualifications in her bid to get an endorsement from the PB, leading to replacing Mangaoang as district collector of Cebu Port.

During the previous session, the PB approved en masse a resolution, by PB member Antonio Almirante, recommending Parojinog but on condition that the PB would not give the official endorsement until she ably defends she is qualified to replace Mangaoang.

The PB resolution subsequently drew flak from various sectors, more so from Mangaoang herself who assailed Parojinog as unfit for the post because she is presently a head of a unit only and her rise to the post means bypassing at least 60 other senior Customs officials.

No PB member decided to endorse Parojinog yesterday prompting the PB to put on hold the matter until the next session.

This after Vice Governor Greg Sanchez said he got from the BOC a record showing that Parojinog only has a salary grade of 22 as acting chief of a unit in Manila-a matter that the latter denied by insisting that she had a salary grade of 23.

As unit chief at present, Parojinog's position in the plantilla is that of an assistant division chief, which is only a second-level position in the civil service hierarchy.

There have been raw reports also that Parojinog has pending cases at the Ombudsman and, for several years already, she has been on floating status as a result.

Parojinog denied all these to the PB, saying she has a post-graduate or master's degree, and civil service eligibility with 20 years of work experience with the Bureau of Customs.

"I have my educational background to prove...all are documented; no cases were filed against me and I have experiences in the collection of duties and taxes," Parojinog told the PB.

"Yes, I am qualified, I have no administrative case and...I have my clearances from the Sandigan Bayan, Ombudsman, the Civil Service and all of these are in my folders when I submitted my qualifications to the board," she said.

Parojinog instead returned fire at Mangaoang who, she alleged had applied for the post in 2002 without yet the required third-level eligibility that was only obtained the following year while already in the position.

When PB member Victor Maambong asked Parojinog if she could also meet the revenue target if she gets the post, she cited her performance as acting district collector of Iloilo, then she assured Maambong that she would resign if she falls short of her target in three-months time. - Flor Z. Perolina