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Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Seares: Lourdes to Grace
By Pachico A. Seares
News Sense
People covet the Cebu customs collector’s job the way others lust after forbidden fruit.
Money and power, or so I was told.
There’s so much money on top of salary that one can waive government pay and rely on cash from private sources. In what other government office can the chief pay from his own pocket 30 bodyguards?
And there’s a lot of power fraught with magic. Where else can one make vans loaded with luxury goods pass tight security or an entire ship carrying hot cargo vanish into thin air?
Unlike in lottery, one who wants to be customs collector doesn’t buy tickets. One collects endorsements from VIPs who can lobby with President Glo, the customs boss or the finance secretary.
But when one contender does that, the rival does it too. It is a power game played with conspiracy and intrigue.
Bitter fight
The case of outgoing Cebu customs chief Ma. Lourdes Mangaoang shows how the fight can be bitterly waged.
Mangaoang not only had to watch out for port mischiefs, she had to keep eyes peeled on schemes to yank her seat.
So Lourdes had to go the rounds of coaxing politicians and business leaders. And like rival Gracia Zuño Karingal, she must have resorted to mudslinging. Muck carries no sender’s card but each rival assumes the other pitched it.
So it’s Grace. Or, isn’t it over yet? Lourdes, I hear, was still hoping a rescinded or garbled order would allow her stay.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 4, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
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