The endangered species in government service - A Law Each Day (KeepsTrouble Away)

Writing something nice about an acquaintance since elementary and high school days may create some credibility problems due to an apparent bias. Besides the tendency to ascribe dubious motives cannot be avoided more so if the subject of the commentary has reached the pinnacle of his career and used to occupy a very prominent and influential position in the government. So even if the temptation is overwhelming, I resisted the urge to throw in a few good words about Beethoven Rualo when he was still the commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. now that he has bowed out of the service for no other discernible cause than the unsettling and endless politicals plaguing our country that has not spared our career civil service officials, I think I am already free to write about the man without fear of being branded as personally biased and ulteriorily motivated.

Beethoven Rualo, or "Toben" as we used to call him since our short pants years in elementary and high school belongs to the vanishing breed of civil servants who have carved out a career through hard work, honest and dedicated service in the Bureau of Internal Revenue way back in 1964 as Budget Aid (a more euphemistic term for a government clerk) and ended it in the same Bureau as its top honcho. Not bad indeed for a mere clerk.

But even before he became a government clerk, Toben had already exhibited the rare traits that served him well in his government career. During our Boy Scout years at UST, I could not forget his meticulousness to details, his being always on time for all our scouting activities with his Boy Scout uniform always clean and well pressed. Finishing last in any academic or extracurricular activities or competitions was farthest from his mind although he equally abhorred with vehemence winning at all cost. He would rather lose than break the rules. Hence, I was not surprised to hear from some of his co-workers at the BIR that when it comes to attendance, he was very strict while at the same time constantly reminding his people to be always in proper uniform or Barong Tagalog with their ID's prominently displayed.

The Rualo I knew and the Rualo who became a BIR commissioner is a guy always ready to help others and imbued with the spirit of service. During our younger years, he was ever willing to "do a good turn daily" and never hesitated to extend a helping hand to any classmate, academically or otherwise, but only to the extent of sharing his answers or knowledge before, not during, exams. And so it is again no wonder to hear from this colleagues that he takes good care of his people at the BIR and is always willing to help advance the careers of the well deserving BIR officers and employees.

According to those close to him at the BIR, Rualo likewise repeatedly emphasized that they are all public servants and so service to the taxpayers should be their primary concern, as it is the best way to increase revenue collections. He never cease to remind his people that they can't expect taxpayers to faithfully comply with their obligation to pay their taxes to the government if they will make it so difficult for them to do so. Simple but effective policy indeed.

The most remarkable trait of Rualo, I believe, is his single minded determination to pursue and achieve the goal he set out for himself. And it really showed in the path of his career. He never lost hope and got discouraged amidst all the setbacks and frustrations during those 34 years at the BIR until finally he became its commissioner despite all odds. He relled on his credentials and his track record (not on political backers) to get promotion after promotion. Hence, when he was at the helm he was beholden to nobody. Ironically, being his own man caused the end of his illustrious career. Unless our leaders find ways to insulate them from politics, government officials of Rualo's class may become endangered species.

Rualo's experience in his career drives home two important points in the matter of governance of a nation like the Philippines; first, that it is so difficult if not impossible to attract good, competent, qualified men of integrity into government service; and second with frequent changes of career government officials, there could be no stable and enduring government policy that would project an image of permanency and security so necessary in attracting foreign investments.

Atty. Sison's e-mail address: [email protected].