Last Sunday, the Inquirer came up with the front page headlines “A Few Good Men in Gov’t” which reported that the government of Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III had a difficult time in filling a lot of vacancies from 4,301 executive positions to over 50,000 rank and file employees. I don’t blame P.Noy or his search committee; after all, it is not easy to find good men these days. Working in the government is, after all, a thankless job. This is why they have to take extra care in replacing these executives, lest the ones they put would even be worse than the previous executives.
As what our fellow Philippine Star columnist, Ms. Chit Pedrosa said a few weeks ago, “Elections in this country is like a revolution, whoever wins the race and therefore to the victors goes the spoils.” Hence, people identified with the previous administration are now being replaced. This is why Chit pointed out that with elections being held once in every three years, and Presidential elections held once every six years, there seems to be no continuity in how this country is managed, which is why we have never progressed compared our ASEAN neighbors. But what can we say? This is Philippine politics and if we don’t have real and genuine change via a constitutional convention, nothing much will change in this country and things would remain the same. As the old pundits used to say, “Same dog, new collar.”
This brings us to the issue of the appointment of Joselito Alvarez as the new Bureau of Customs (BoC) Chief more than a week ago, especially because of the admitted fact that he and his partner were suspended for cheating during the Mango Tee golf tournament in Ayala Alabang last January. If this issue hasn’t died out it is because the members of Tuloy Pinoy and the Liberal Party (LP) in Cebu and Mindanao are seeking a “review” of the appointment of Alvarez. It is only right for them to ask for this review.
Perhaps this is due to the fact that the Internet blogs too haven’t stopped complaining about this appointment even if Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III already issued a statement that “It was no longer important for Alvarez to answer allegations that he cheated in golf because what mattered to him was his appointment credentials and performance output.” This means, regardless of what he heard, Pres. Noy isn’t listening to public pressure on this appointment, even if he declared that the Filipino people are his “Boss”.
While I was one of the first columnist to write about this issue, what bugged me was that Alvarez wasn’t only disqualified from the Mango Tee tournament, he was also given a six-month suspension by the Ayala Alabang Golf Club. As a golfer, the disqualification was more than enough punishment for him and his partner who was summarily fired by his boss, who told his friends that he didn’t want anyone who cheated in his golf game to be a member of his numerous corporations.
People who do not play golf do not understand golf etiquette. Golf is a very unique sport because there are no umpires or referees when people play, in a tournament or when you are playing just an ordinary golf game. This is why it is called a “Gentleman’s Sport” where we expect a high degree of decorum. Hence, cheating is a grave offense and a disqualification against a cheater makes other golfers think he contracted some kind of contagious disease like leprosy and avoid him like the plague.
But I’m one who always moves forward and never dwell on an issue like a stationary storm. What I care about is that, I also heard that the caddies of Alvarez and his partner were also suspended because of this issue. Hence those caddies have lost their chance to make a living just because of this cheating incident. I hope that Pres. Noynoy would also look into this for the sake of the people who lost their jobs because of this incident. I leave this issue to the judgment of Pres. Noynoy and will get back to him only if and when when smuggling would still be around or worse, would even escalate under the watch of Alvarez.
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July 17-23, 2010 is the 32nd National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week. This week’s theme is “When Structures are Accessible, Everyone is Able.” In pursuit of this noble goal to help people with disabilities the Organization of Rehabilitation Agencies (ORA) and the Regional Council for Disability Affairs is launching a “Barrier-Free Tourism” tomorrow, July 21, 2010 at 10 AM to 12:00 noon at the SM Conference Hall A & B. May I request the folks in the Tourism Industry to please attend this conference so they would realize how important it is for Cebu to be “Barrier-Free.” This so we could ensure that not only the handicapped or disabled can enjoy easy access to our facilities, but including pregnant or nursing mothers or the senior citizens, especially tourists who prefer to use a ramp than climb a set of stairs.
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Email: vsbobita@mozcom.com.