IN the November 6, 2007 revenue command conference with Finance Secretary Margarito Teves and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Lilian B. Hefti, attended by 19 BIR directors, at the Aguinaldo State Dining Room in Malacanang Palace, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was informed that the Bicol Region is number one in the country’s revenue collection for three quarters, from January to September this year. Bicol has edged out usual top grossers Cagayan de Oro, Bataan, Tuguegarao and Manila.

        With such a colorful performance, the seven BIR district offices in the Bicol region were given last month a new regional director, a Buhinon, Edgar P. Claveria, who, sad to note, is due to retire on January 17, 2008.

        Claveria used to be the revenue district officer of Camarines Norte. During his term, Camarines Norte was awarded, for the first time, BIR Model Office for three consecutive years, from 1994 to 1997. For this achievement, the Sanggunian Panlalawigan of Camarines Norte passed a resolution commending Claveria, whose feat as district revenue officer has yet to be replicated. It could be inferred that such a sterling record was also observed when he held offices in the cities of Quezon, Manila and Makati. Otherwise, he would not be tapped by Commissioner Hefti, herself a Bicolana from Bacacay, Albay, to head the bureau’s regional office in Bicol.

        With his years of experience as district revenue officer, Claveria is no stranger to tax cheats, to businessmen who understate their income, to people in whose mouth the name tax collector leaves a very bad taste. He was not born yesterday. He has spent the most effective years of his life in the bureau and is now to top off his service in government in his own native soil. He cannot afford to do anything stupid, to the shame of his name and of the Claveria clan.

        Claveria has two loads to carry in his final assignment in Bicol.

        First, he has to encourage and enjoin the Bicolanos to pay their taxes diligently and honestly, if Bicol has to hold on to the honor of being the revenue top grosser in the country. That in itself is a tall order. It takes a lot of persuasive power to convince the pillars in tax contributions in the region to comply with their civil obligations. It takes a lot of personal charisma to impress the taxpayer that the government deserves their support despite the messy situations the government has embroiled itself in, such as the ZTE broadband deal scandal, the paper bag gifts expose by Fr. Ed. Panlilio and the pardon handed down to former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada by President Gloria Maeapagal-Arroyo.

        Second, he has barely the last quarter of this year to write in gold letters his final months of service in government, and in his own native region at that, before he retires in January next year. Given barely three months to comply with such a tall order, Claveria must, using the old cliche, burn the midnight oil. He is beating a deadline and must put to bed the final issue of his services in the BIR without a hitch, without any delay, with the best of what he has.

        With a courageous and clean record in an agency of government known for being a haven of cheats and corruptors, Claveria would be the exception to that norm. His three-month stay in Bicol as BIR director is indeed a brief person to show what he has. So much must be straightened out in BIR Bicol by such a man of experience for such a short time.

        An extension of his services for another six months will be commendable as the bureau needs it, as Bicol needs it. In an overtime, so to speak, he has to give his all. He can do no less for his own than what he did for other revenue district offices.