(Third 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 moment 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- inclusions of other relevant things are conspicuously omitted, maybe it is due to the simple reason that I was not directly part of it.)
October 2002. My First Taste of Promotion in the Bureau of Customs
I thought then that the month of October would be just another ordinary month of the year with usual Christmas festivity is already on the air. For a long-time x-ray operative like me at MICP whose routine include the conduct of x-ray inspection on consolidation shipment or balikbayan boxes using the Rapiscan X-ray Machine and witnessing the physical examination of containers by the Customs Examiner at the CSF Ramp, nothing perhaps could be sweeter than hearing the news that you are promoted to the position you are aspiring for.
Yes, I was conducting x-ray inspection on balikbayan boxes consigned to LBC, when Roger Agias, my fellow x-ray operator at the MICP, informed me that my name was in the list of personnel who were promoted as Customs Operations Officer III at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. I immediately verified the news at the Human Resources Management Division and confirmed the story to be true.
Alas, after ten long years of dedicated service with Bureau of Customs, and six good years of which were devoted to the Scanning Unit, I was finally promoted from SAI to COO III!
My promotion, I knew, was a result of sacrifice, hardwork, competence and merit. Although I have had frustration in the system of promotion, I was still grateful that I was included for I knew there are still so many Customs employees who are rendering more than ten years of service in the Bureau and, yet, up to now they have never been promoted to a higher position.
As soon as I had assumed my work at the NAIA as COOIII, I reported back to my place of work at the MICP as x-ray operator after my personal request for transfer was approved by Col. Jose Yuchongco and then Collector Napoleon Morales. I knew that I can served better the Bureau by being at the Customs Scanning Unit because of my wide technical experience in x-ray operation than being a Customs Examiner. If only then there is a plantilla position for x-ray personnel, I knew my first taste of promotion would come from my field of work in the Scanning Unit.
September 2003. My First task in the Container X-ray Scanner Project of the BOC
When I read Customs Administrative Oder No. 1-2002, which was issued by Commissioner Bernardo in January 2002, providing for the use of x-ray machine as an alternative to physical examination to speed up the examination of containerized shipments, I was wondering what kind of x-ray machine that this CMO is talking about. My idea of x-ray machine was confined to the kind of x-ray machine that we have been using at the Customs Scanning for almost ten years and never in my wildest imagination that a new technology can scanned a whole container van at one time, without necessarily opening it and getting out the cargo one by one.
And more than a year after the administrative order was issued, I was told to report to the Project Manager of Scanning Unit, Col. Jose Yuchongco, for I will be given a special assignment. As I reported to the Project Manager, I was ordered to make a comparative study on the volume of container traffic in the major ports of entry in the country to rationalize the request of the Scanning Unit of at least seven container x-ray machines that will be forwarded to the office of the commissioner as soon as possible. Without wasting so much of the time, I immediately followed the marching order given to me and went to various offices in the Bureau of Customs and the Philippine Ports Authority to gather relevant data as much as I could, and scanned the internet for other information that have something to do with my research. With my special assignment, I was able to obtain a good grasp of what container x-ray container machine is all about, recording every technical specification about the product from the leading suppliers around the world. In just a few weeks time, I became well-verse of the x-ray technology as a result of my research.
Since my instruction was to limit my focus of study on the volume of container traffic in the major ports of entry only, my assignment was finished in two weeks time and submitted my final output to the Project manager on the following week. And to inform as well my fellow x-ray workers on the result of my study, I decided to publish it on the succeeding issue of our newsletter, thereby bringing their level of awareness that container x-ray inspection system is the new trend in non-intrusive cargo inspection and not anymore the usual x-ray machine that we have been using for so many years in the Scanning Unit.
May 2003. BOCXOA elected a new set of officers
After one year of its existence, founded at the POM Cooperative Canteen in May 2002, the Bureau of customs X-ray Operation Association elected its new set of officers during the General Assembly Meeting at the Maxim’s Restaurant along Ermita Avenue, Manila. Among present during the election were four x-ray operators representing the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, all four x-ray operators assigned at the Port of Manila and five x-ray operators from the MICP. Considering that the BOCXOA was an infant organization representing only the x-ray operators of the Bureau of Customs, the number of x-ray operators in attendance was enough to constitute a quorum.
After a dinner was hosted by the MICP delegation, the election of officers immediately followed and the following were unanimously elected: Blas Mahinay as the new President, replacing Pedro Gutierrez, Edwin Bondoc as Vice-President, Ver Mupas as Treasurer, Benjamin Cajucom as Auditor, Edgardo Galang, John Turqueza, Jun Pelayo, Bernabe Cevallos and Darwin Navarro as PROs. I was re-elected as Secretary – General of the association. Later on, Mahinay laid out his plans and programs during his incumbency by strengthening the membership of the association and by forging a good working relationship with other organizations in the Bureau.
One remarkable accomplishment during Mahinay’s presidency was the level of awareness on radiation safety procedures among the x-ray operators as they conduct x-ray inspection in their respective workplace. The BOCXOA had also have a good working relationship with the Department of Health and initiated the conduct of Radiation Safety Seminar at the DOH Training Center. However, a grief ensued among the x-ray operators when one of our comrades, Ebert Samson, who was assigned at the NAIA, suddenly passed away due to cancer of pancreas. The BOCXOAns lost a good x-ray operator with the untimely death of Ebert and the entire membership made a final tribute in his wake.
(To be continued)
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