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Sunday, March 19, 2006
Malilong: The ‘iron lady’ at the customs
By Frank Malilong
The Other Side
When she was assigned in Cagayan de Oro, she received the “Iron Lady” award from the local press club. If for that alone, I think District Customs Collector Maria Lourdes Mangaoang will survive the savage and underhanded attempt to remove her from the Port of Cebu.
Mangaoang isn’t the type who will star in a book on winning friends and influencing people. This UP law graduate doesn’t seem to care for niceties.
When I met her for the first time, the thing about her that struck me most was her impatience. She was always in a hurry and didn’t mince words when she was displeased. I told myself then that she was bound to step on some toes sooner or later.
Many toes and huge, too, they turned out to be. The attack against her is orchestrated, that is obvious. And she has a fairly clear idea of who the conspirators and what their motives are.
Some people, I am told, find her difficult to deal with, meaning that she does not accede to requests for accommodation especially when they are disadvantageous to the government. They wanted somebody more cooperative to occupy her post.
The legitimate businessmen aren’t persuaded and have cast their lot with Mangaoang. They are convinced that she is doing well and that whatever shortfalls there may have been in the Port’s revenue target are caused by factors not attributable to her fault.
Ordinarily, their endorsement would have been enough to quell the plot against her. The trouble is that she isn’t facing any ordinary foe. Her enemies have struck an alliance with another customs collector, who is said to be related to a powerful official in the Arroyo administration.
My sources say the other customs collector has managed, with the help of her influential relative, to send the message across to the powers-that-be in Malacañang and in the Finance Department that she is the right person to head the customs office in Cebu. This lady is also facing a string of administrative cases against her but that did not stop her from claiming that Mangaoang should be yanked out of Cebu because of the cases that have been filed against her.
Mangaoang’s case is a test of Malacanang’s resolve. Will they listen to the legitimate businessmen who are batting for Mangaoang to stay or will they cave in to the pressure from the other customs collector’s relative?
Abangan.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (March 19, 2006 issue)
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