The good guys

Some readers have asked why we chose eight officials as hardworking public servants. Here’s why:

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is definitely the most hardworking member of the Cabinet. She’s all over the place from visiting the site of the Ampatuan Massacre, the nurse rape victim in Maguindanao to the ocular inspection of the Luneta and Bilibid penitentiary.

She held daily hearings on the Luneta hostage taking fiasco and submitted an exhaustive report. She’s quick to act and react on cases that crop up. She’s rein-vestigating the Vizconde Massacre case, reviewing the Dacer Corbito case and acting more promptly on drug cases. Of late, there’s no talk of fixing drug cases at DOJ.

When considered for Comelec Chairman or Ombudsman, she has immediately declined and reiterated her commitment to finish the job at DOJ. She’s readily available to media and is clear in her statements.

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Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario brought a breath of fresh wind to that lackluster department. Within days after his assumption, he defied conventional advice and at great risk to himself flew to Tunisia and Libya. Subsequently, he made visits to Bahrain and other Middle East countries and to Tsunami ravaged Japan. He successfully evacuated 15,000 OFWs from Libya without incident or casualty. His work ethics has reinvigorated the career personnel of the DFA. He announced a policy of prioritizing career ambassadors over political appointees. Last week, 21 career ambassadors were confirmed by the Commission on Appointments including that of Ezzedin Tago as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, an important post vacant for six months.

Secretary del Rosario holds press conferences regularly.

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While starting on the wrong foot in a brush with DepEd reporters, Brother Armin Luistro recovered quickly, took a seminar on media relations, got the acceptance of DepEd employees and also adopted a very hardworking schedule.

Admirably, he paid visits to the wakes of teachers who died in violent incidents including in Caloocan and Zamboanga City.

Against heavy odds, he has now implemented the K+12 educational system, with the institutionalization of the universal kindergarten nationwide, even with limited funds. He even conducted a summer kindergarten program.

Sec. Luistro has easily adjusted from his private school orientation to the more difficult, politically affected public school system. He has done his homework on the pending needs of 500,000 teachers and appears to have satisfied congressmen and senators on his policies.

Given more funds, he can solve the perennial lack of teachers and classrooms in time. He is every pupil’s big brother.

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Part hardwork, part good weather, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala has reported a 15 percent increase in rice production so far this year. Admirably, he has shown his determination to reduce rice imports which is a corruption gold mine, even calling down NFA Administrator Lito Banayo for proposing an additional 300,000 metric tons of rice imports.

He has a target of self sufficiency and no rice importation by 2013. Given a little more good luck, it looks like he can do it.

He is also working on improving chicken and pork production and has taken steps to stop the smuggling of agricultural products from China and Australia.

Now if he can increase our fish production, prevent fishkills and further promote aqua culture, then maybe, we can hold up an impending food crisis.

Secretary Alcala is also known as regularly going to the field to check on his programs. A few days ago he was in Batanes. So far, there has been no report of a fertilizer or other inputs irregularity in the DA.

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Originally just a stand-in as Secretary of Labor and Employment, Rosalinda Baldoz was named in an acting capacity after Benny Laguesma begged off from the post.

In a few months’ time, Secretary Baldoz so impressed President Aquino, she was made permanent. Acting in tandem with DFA Secretary Albert del Rosario, Sec. Baldoz and her POEA and OWWA personnel efficiently handled the evacuation of OFWs from Libya, Bahrain, Kuwait and Japan, and the repatriation of OFWs from Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Under Sec. Baldoz, the strict implementation of labor standards and the Minimum Wage Law has been made. The DOLE is in steady hands, maybe not in a spectacular way but in pure day to day hard work.

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BIR Commissioner Kim Henares, unlike her Customs counterpart has consistently accomplished her targets. She has filed 45 cases of tax evasion before the DOJ. She even filed a tax evasion case against Congressman Mikey Arroyo and his wife Angela. She also filed tax evasion charges against Generals Carlos C. Garcia and Jacinto Ligot.

She uncovered the big tax evasion cases against gold traders heretofore, unnoticed by previous commissioners. She is now reviewing the taxes being paid by mining companies and operators.

Let’s hope she can help in the anti crime campaign by filing tax evasion charges against drug lords, gambling lords, carjacking syndicates, police officers and 11 Congressmen involved in the fertilizer scam.

Let’s hope P-Noy and his buddies allow her to do her job without interference. She resigned under GMA. She may just do it again.

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GSIS President and CEO Robert Vergara, finance professional trained in London and Hong Kong has exposed irregularities in the GSIS, especially in its housing loan program. He has stopped Winston Garcia’s ill-advised foreign investment program and reverted the same to domestic investments. He has started to iron out the problem of uncollected premium payments of teachers and other government employees.

He has started to institute systematic reforms in the unwieldy GSIS organization.

Robert Vergara, the unassuming reluctant appointee, is living up to the difficult challenge of public service.He’s a pleasant surprise!

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino next time. –Ernesto M. Maceda (The Philippine Star)