(Second of a series)
(With the noble intention of sharing some important pieces of information and facts to my fellow workers in the X-ray Inspection Project, especially to the new generation of x-ray inspectors, I decided to publicly write the entries of my diary which for me, I think, are considered legacies and important events in my life in the X-ray Unit. I have no doubts that these were the moments that can be treasured in the annals of the x-ray history. Due to space limitations allotted for this newsletter, records in my diary are selectively chosen and summarized on a monthly basis to accommodate the truly important events. If non-inclusion of other relevant things are conspicuously omitted, maybe it is due to the simple reason that I was not directly part of it.)
May 1998. My First-Ever Commendation Letter as X-ray Operative
On May 5, 1998, a commendation letter was handed to me by Capt. Vicente Aseron, our Asst. Project Manager of the Interim Scanning Unit. Although I was able to detect and apprehend various shipments on several occasions as x-ray operator at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in the past, I was really surprised to receive such commendation coming from a top ranking Customs official because it was my first time in almost six years of dedicated service in the Bureau of Customs. The commendation was in connection with the x-ray scanning conducted on a shipment declared as stone craft, consigned to a certain Eddie Mackay, that arrived at a NAIA Bonded Warehouse, and was found to contain fifty(50) units of ALINCO Mobile transceivers and twenty(20) units of Motorola VHF radio transceivers. That shipment was seized in favor of the government.
As a result of this first commendation I received, my passion and eagerness to scan any kind of shipment at the NAIA intensified. I would always volunteered whenever there was an x-ray operation, without any complain even if the operation would last until midnight. And the commendation I got was just the beginning of similar citations I received later on in relation to my work as an x-ray operative. As of my last count, I obtained a total of nine commendations, all related to the apprehensions I made.
July 1998. The First Major “Earthquake” to Hit the Scanning Unit
The atmosphere at the Customs community was so uncertain. The new President of the country, His Excellency Joseph Estrada, had assumed office last month after winning the Presidential Election last May and the President had just appointed Pedro Mendoza as the new Commissioner of Customs, replacing Commissioner Parayno.
As a consequence of leadership change at the Bureau, Commissioner Mendoza made a major reshuffle on the different district collectors, including the heads of various services and units – and the Scanning Unit was one of them. Collector Guillermo Pedro Francia replaced Collector Edward dela Cuesta as Project Manager of the X-ray Component of the Scanning Unit, while Capt. Vicente Aseron retained his post as Assistant Project Manager.
For the x-ray operatives, there were around ten personnel that were affected by the reshuffle and all of them were ordered to return back to their respective mother units. I could vividly recall the emotional outburst of feelings by some of the affected personnel as they protested to Capt. Aseron their reassignment as being done in bad faith and motivated purely by jealousy, intrigues and personal vendetta. Those well-trained personnel, whom I knew pretty well when I joined the Scanning Unit, mostly belonged to the Enforcement and Security Service and they served the Unit with utmost dedication and professionalism. As I pondered upon the situation, I kept on asking myself why they had to suffer such fate. I surmised that I must have to accept the reality that reassignments and designations in the Bureau are solely the prerogatives of the appointing authority. Whatever good deeds I have done for the service, anything would come to waste if somebody else is more powerful and interested in my post. And I thought then that it was perhaps the first and last reshuffle to hit the Scanning Unit, but I was proven wrong.
September 1998. The Second and Deadliest “Earthquake” Yet to Hit the Scanning Unit
Two months after the first reshuffle of the Scanning Unit, a second “earthquake” with greater intensity suddenly struck and caught everyone by surprise. Nobody thought of it as a forthcoming tragedy because the reshuffle made by the commissioner had just been completed. And compared with the first one, this time the “casualty” was bigger in number and the scope was wider.
Col. Jose Yuchongco took the reign of leadership from Coll. Francia, while Capt. Modesto Samson replaced Capt. Vicente Aseron. Aside from the change of top leadership, more than half of the x-ray operatives were relieved and ordered to return back to their respective mother units. Of all the people being affected by the reshuffle, I was hurt when I knew that Capt. Aseron was included. We had worked together when we were still members of the Special Study Team that laid down the foundations for the creation of the Interim Scanning Unit, and he was one of the very few good and knowledgeable persons I knew of in the team. When we were both included as members in the newly-created Unit by Commissioner Parayno, from among the members of the study team, he used to tell me and his friends – just like a proud father to me – that he was the one who got me as his administrative officer from my former assignment at the CIIS. And as we parted our ways, I would find time to visit him at the ESS Headquarters which was located then near Pier 15. Whenever I saw him sitting under the mango tree, together with the rest of ESS personnel affected by the reshuffle, the more painful for me to accept that my former head, whom I greatly admired and regarded as “the father of the Scanning Unit” was consigned to the “Philippine Navy” while waiting for his new assignment.
Although I survived once again from this another “calamity”, I was reassigned to the Manila International Container Port X-ray Unit, where most of the personnel assigned were new acquaintances to me. I was told by Col. Yuchongco that Cesar Albano, the new MICP Team Leader, requested for my reassignment. Mr. Albano was the x-ray supervisor during the time of Coll. Dela Cuesta and we had a chance of working together at the NAIA.
Aside from the personnel component, even the structural set up was never spared by the shake up. The operational control of the Unit was transferred from the Office of the Commissioner to the Intelligence and Enforcement Group, with no less than President Estrada signing the transfer.
As I was assigned at the MICP, I kept on wondering what life would have been to my former comrades who were returned to their mother units while I was slowly adjusting to my new workplace and establishing rapport with my new companions, most of whom had just attended a training on the use of x-ray machines. There was no problem with my work; Conducting X-ray inspection has already been a part of my life. And as I indulged myself in a scholarly fashion of dissecting and reexamining the problems facing the Unit which I helped to create, together with some progressive minded personnel of the MICP Scanning Unit, never did I realize that the seeds of unionism and the advocacy for the protection of x-ray workers rights and interests had been planted.
April 2002. The Birth of the Bureau of Customs X-ray Operators Association
Since the early part of 2002, the Scanning Unit was continuously in a state of uncertainties over endless false accusations and innuendos against some of its members from various stories in the Customs tabloid newspapers. Sometimes, if there were indeed wrongdoings of one or two x-ray operators, they would be magnified with intense proportions so that the public would create a negative perception of the entire x-ray operators. There was a general sentiment then among the silent majority of x-ray operators that they must have a national organization to make a united stand on important issues pertaining to their welfare and to institutionalize a mechanism that will channel their common goals and aspirations.
Thus, on April 16, 2002, ten brave and daring souls - Pedro Gutierrez, Edwin Bondoc, Blas Mahinay, Bernabe Cevallos, Servillano Pelayo, Cayetano Pimentel, Benjamin Cajucom, Virgilio Mupas, Bernardo Evangelista, and I - formally initiated the first organizational meeting of x-ray operators at the Cooperative Canteen of the Port of Manila and founded the now popularly known Bureau of Customs X-ray Operators Association (BOCXOA).
After long and extensive deliberations, the founders agreed on the objectives of the Association. As crafted under its Constitution and By- Laws, the objectives emphasized the overwhelming sentiments of its members at that time. These are the following:
1. To-ensure the full implementation of CMO 30-96, otherwise known as “Program Development for The Creation of a Customs Scanning Career Service within the Bureau”, through collective actions and representation with the management.
2. To promote professional growth of the x-ray Operators by lobbying for a bureau-wide human resource development program that will establish plantilla positions in the field of Customs x-ray inspection;
3. To ensure better working conditions in the workplace by providing protective equipments and materials as well as healthcare benefits to the x-ray operators;
4. To police the ranks of X-ray Operators from misfits and undesirable; and,
5. To help foster greater solidarity among to its members through group activities.
During the early days of its existence, the BOCXOA suffered difficulties due to financial limitation in implementing its plans and programs, as well as the apprehensions by some members and Customs top officials that the association might become progressive and too radical. However, these things did not stop the founding members from pursuing their goals. These challenges even made them to work harder in fulfilling their plans. And on the following month, the association decided to affiliate itself with the Bureau of Customs Employees Associations (BOCEA) and was graciously accepted by its top leadership, making the BOCXOA a recognized organization within the Bureau representing the x-ray workers.
September 2002. The Maiden Issue of the Scanner, the official Newsletter of
BOCXOA
To inform the public of its advocacy and stand on various issues facing their welfare, the association issued its first-ever official newsletter, called the Scanner, to the Customs community. In its 8-page maiden issue with a circulation of 500 copies distributed mainly to Customs officials and employees, the founders laid down the association’s constitution and by-laws, the accomplishment of the Scanning Unit, the historical development of x-ray machines, their common stand on relevant issues as expressed on the editorial page and other internal concerns within the Scanning Unit.
As a result of its first publicity, the association earned a lot of praises from various sectors and became an instant popular organization among the Customs employees, with its membership rising dramatically in other out ports in just a short span of time. Thus, the strength of the associations can be felt in the Customs community through the circulation of the newsletter and the press releases it made on a number of issues affecting its welfare.
(To be continued)
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