FROM THE STANDS
By Domini M. Torrevillas
The Philippine Star

“The moment one sits in the Bureau of Customs chair, someone wants to get him out,” Ruffy Biazon told Bulong Pulungan sa Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel yesterday. “He wants the job.”

The 42-year-old Customs commissioner who was appointed by President Aquino six months ago, is occupying what is probably the most envied, if not, dangerous, Cabinet post. The people who want him out are possibly smugglers and employees at the bureau who tend to lose millions if the new bureau chief is seriously running them out of their nefarious business. It’s no wonder that he has a group of Marines following him – and his family – everywhere.

Knowing that the job is fraught with danger, the former three-time congressman from Muntinlupa asked the President five questions before he would accept his offer. 1) Why me? (The answer: I know you, I know you work hard.) 2) Will the offer mean I’m indebted to you? (Answer: No.) 3) Will I be told not to touch certain people and goods? (Answer: No.) 4) Will I get your support? (Answer: Yes, if you meet my objectives, you will.) 5) Will I be given security? (Answer: Yes.) The President’s answers were more than satisfactory. Ruffy accepted the post, although the rumor that went around was that he wanted the tourism post.

The President’s assurance of support is Ruffy’s lifeline. It’s important, he said, that he can call the President any time. “It’s important that I have direct contact with him,” he said. So far he has no reason to call the President for help. But he is determined to follow the President’s objective of walking the straight and narrow path, which means, in his job, he is to make drastic reforms in the bureau, which means removing scalawags (he has fired a few employees, but kept those proven to be honest and competent, and limited the number of newsmen covering the bureau as their beat), and restoring the image of customs men as good and Ruffy has a degree in medical technology from the University of Santo Tomas. After graduation in 1991, he was appointed director of the Videogram Regulatory Board, now known as the Optical Media Board, which he left to run his father’s senatorial campaign and act as his chief of staff upon his election to the Senate twice. He also served as chief legislative officer of Sen. Sergio Osmena III. He then ran and won a congressional seat representing the second district of Muntinlupa three times. He ran, under the Liberal Party, in the last senatorial election, but lost.

His father, Gen. Rodolfo Biazon, is his idol, and the one great lesson he earned from him is, “Don’t give in to pressure.”

One of the first things he did upon assuming office was meet with his executives and the rank and file. He asked them, when people are told you are from the Bureau of Customs, what do they say? The answer he got was, “A, kaya pala ang laki ng bahay, taga Customs siya.” He told them, we want people to change their attitude towards us, and we will work for that.

The challenge to improve the image of the bureau, not to mention meeting the target collection of P320 billion this year, is very daunting, but people are watching: This pleasantly dispositioned, but one whose wrath must not be courted, is someone to reckon with. The President trusts him to do his job. We need to support him.

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The legislator to watch is Rep. Aliah Dimaporo of the second district of Lanao del Norte. It’s not because she is a scion of one of the powerful royal clans in Muslim Mindanao, she being the granddaughter of the late patriarch Ali Dimaporo, and daughter of former Congressman Abdullah Dimakuta Dimaporo, and former Governor and Representative Imelda Quebranza Dimaporo.

That she comes from a powerful clan gives her a magical aura. But that isn’t all. She herself is bright, full of ideas, and good-looking. She wears the traditional malong with flair, and people listen when she’s talking, because she talks sense.

She considers herself “Mindanao’s Child of Peace,” having been born to parents coming from previously warring families. Her own parents’ marriage – her previously Christian mother marrying her father, a Muslim – patched whatever differences their families had. Her dream is to see warring factions in Muslim Mindanao break bread together, and the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front to sign a peace agreement.

Her priority personal assignment is “to reintroduce Mindanao to my fellow Filipinos. This is possible, by making them aware of Muslim arts and crafts, fashion, our traditional cuisine.” She is willing “to spearhead the influx of visitors to the Mindanao that I love.” In fact she is organizing a media familiarization tour. Aliah wants to promote sports among young people “as one avenue to foster unity and peace in Mindanao and other conflict-ridden areas of the country.” She is laying the groundwork for the launch of a national movement called the Young Leaders for One Philippines (Y1P).

One of the Y1P thrusts will be the holding of sports activities for young people. “Unity is an essential element of peace, and throughout history, sports has proven to be one effective, universal, tool for its promotion.”

She cites sports stars promote unity and national pride among Filipinos, such as the Azkals, the Philippine Dragon Boat Racing Team, and her colleague in Congress, Rep. Manny Pacquiao. “Our excellence in sports has opened the world to the Filipino and united us in national pride. Sports builds nations, brings pride to our country, and unites people in diversity.”

The 32-year-old representative attended Brent School since the grades, which explains why she has an American accent. But for college, she went to Mindanao State University in Marawi where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in sociology magna cum laude. This year she is scheduled to receive a master of science in sustainable agriculture and rural development by distance learning program from the University of London.

After finishing her course at MSU, she served as executive assistant at South Seas Aquaculture, Inc. and soon after, as chief of staff in her father’s office from 2004-2007, and for four months, as executive assistant in her governor mother’s office in Marawi City. In 2008, she left for New York City, where she served as international director of operations with the World Youth Alliance in New York City, then for half a year, was executive director of WAY Foundation Inc.

Her father, still showing his fatherly influence, said his daughter was getting too Americanized, and asked her to come home, which she did, like an obedient daughter. Then he convinced her to run for the congressional seat, which she did, and handily won.

My media colleagues and I had lunch at her mother’s house in a posh village in Quezon City. With the help of an aunt, she served us cuisine from Lanao del Norte with lots of coconut oil and spicy condiments and broiled fish jaws representing the cuisine of the Tausugs.

She showed us different ways to wear the malong. She had to learn to wear the malong, because her grandmother told her, “If you don’t know how to wear the malong, you’re not a real princess.”

My email: dominimt2000@yahoo.com

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