BEFORE proceeding, a happy and hopeful 2023 to all of us, along with my apology to our readers and followers and most especially, to my ‘Mommy Tess L’ for her deep well of understanding, patience and yes, “love” for my failure to submit my columns the last few issues.

More power and more love to you, Mommy Tess, muwah!

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One of the delightful and I must say, “correct” decisions made by PBBM as 2002 ends, is the appointment of former Bureau of Customs (BOC) ‘DCE’ (Deputy Commissioner for Enforcement) Ariel Nepomuceno last December 28 as the new “administrator” at the ‘Office of Civil Defense’ (OCD).

The OCD oversees the ‘NDRRMC’ (National Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Council) under the Department of National Defense (DND).

And yes, we are stumped and disappointed that some quarters of the mainstream media, nay, even his former ‘colleagues’ at ABS-CBN were quick to cast aspersion on his name and character. Yes, dear readers, ‘Nepo’ once worked as correspondent/field reporter at ABS-CBN.

But ignorance is bliss as the saying goes and if some of our colleagues are out to prove to the world that they do not know what they are talking about some of the time, they are entitled to that.

Fortunately for yours truly, I have the luxury of being up close and personal with now ‘Administrator Nepo,’ back when he was with the BOC. And the more you get to know him, the more you get to like him (considering we started off on the ‘wrong foot’ so to speak).

Now, I would not focus on many of this man’s qualifications such as his being magna cum laude graduate of the University of the Philippines—home to some of the country’s ‘brainiest’– nor his being a holder of an MBA degree at the Asian Institute of Management.

I would rather focus on his character as a person because at the OCD/NDRRMC it is the character of the people running it that would define its accomplishments and future direction.
For one, Nepo is not entirely “bagito” at the OCD having earlier served there for one year as its executive officer and deputy administrator, during the term of PNoy.

Second and the more important thing is that Nepo knows the meaning of the words “sacrifice” “empathy” (malasakit) and “personal values,” aside from having a vault of patience needed in working under pressure.

More importantly too? “Totoong tao at kaibigan” itong si Nepo and he is also easy to get along with. He is one of the few rare individuals whom you would not regret entering your life.
Although aspiring to be a military officer by joining the PMA’s ‘Hinirang Class of 1987,’ Nepo never got to graduate from the PMA because of a hazing incident at the academy.

Very few people know that Nepo owned up to the incident in order to save the skin of his fellow cadets. Translation? Isinakripisyo ni Nepo ang kanyang pangarap na maging sundalo para maka-graduate naman ang kanyang mga classmates.

If that is not what principle and personal values mean—so that others may benefit from your own sacrifice—they would need a clearer definition.

Now, some fake news that I got to see regarding Nepo—courtesy of his former media colleagues—claim that he is involved in some shenanigans at the BOC. The allegations, are, for me, what they really are: fake news.

It is on record that it was when Nepo became BOC DCE in 2013 that the bureau started being cited for apprehending the biggest amount of seized illegal drugs; he was also responsible for the apprehension in the same year of the so-called ‘Canadian trash’ at the Port of Subic and at the MICP in several batches (they were re-exported back to Canada in 2019).

I remember too that in 2015, the EG initiated the seizure of several brand-new SUVs and other luxury cars at the Port of Batangas—to the consternation of their powerful owners inside the Aquino administration (these were to be destroyed by the BOC under PDU30).

When RA 10845 (Agricultural Smuggling Law) was passed in the same year, it was Nepo who also initiated the filing of the BOC’s “test case” versus agri products smugglers, charging them not with misdeclaration but with “economic sabotage” a non-bailable offense.

All these show that when it comes to enforcing the rule of law, Nepo would not shrink from doing so, regardless of who gets rolled over in the process and regardless of risks involved to his personal safety.

But the ‘yet-to-be-beaten’ record that Nepo did as a high-ranking public official was when he resigned as customs deputy commissioner in 2017.

I mean, can you beat that, folks? While any other BOC official and even employee would go to any length so he can stay at his post even to his dying day, Nepo would not.

If he feels that any government position, no matter how “juicy,” is no longer worth his time and sacrifice he would step down, gladly, to pursue other interests.

That mindset and principle is to yours truly, what makes Nepo primarily qualified to manage the OCD. His good looks are matched by his good character.

Welcome back to public service, Admin Ariel Nepomuceno!