AN intelligence agent [IA] of the Bureau of Immigration [BI] assigned at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport [MCIA] is now the subject of a formal complaint by one of his colleagues, a female immigration officer, who accused him of embarrassing and berating her in public for unwarranted reasons.
In an incident report submitted to BI-MCIA head supervisor Archimedes Siguan, Immigration officer Jedda Reuyan of the travel control enforcement unit [TCEU] said that last June 1, at around 2 p.m., she saw IA Ruel Reyes at the immigration departure area while there was an ongoing flight.
“She talked to Reyes regarding an earlier turnover of a case to the inter-agency council against trafficking and asked: “Ok na po ba `yon, sir”?
After Reyes affirmed and Reuyan said “ang bilis ah!”, Reyes, she said, got angry and replied: “Anong mabilis? Tingin mo minamadali ko `yung trabaho ko? Dahan-dahan ka sa pananalita mo!”
Reuyan was surprised and in a calm voice apologized, “Sir, sorry kung `yun ang pagkakaintindi mo. Nag-appreciate lang po ako sa bilis nyo magtrabaho. Appreciation po yun sir. Wag nyo po masamain dahil hindi po negative yun.”
She said Reyes then continued with a lot of hurting words toward her and the other immigration officers: “palibhasa mga bago kayo. Hindi pa rin ninyo naiintindihan ang sistema. Gaano na kayo katagal dito? Wala pa rin kayong natutunan. Wala naman kayong alam sa sistema mga nurse kasi kayo. Magbasa nga kayo ng libro. Ang tagal nyo na wala pa rin kayong natututunan.”
Feeling belittled and uncomfortable, Reuyan said she excused herself but Reyes insisted that she stay. She then tried to calm him down by apologizing again but Reyes allegedly continued with negative comments, even whined about his personal dislike of Reuyan’s supervisor Jennifer Angeles.
“The undersigned thought Reyes was in psychological displacement, described as diverting emotional feelings, usually anger from their original source to a substitute, less threatening or non-threatening target,” she said.
Reuyan said the loud, aggressive tone of voice and angry face of Reyes caught the attention of other people, most especially the other immigration officers who were in the area.
“In fact, after the incident, other immigration officers who witnessed the incident comforted and asked if I was okay after all the negativity Reyes has given,” Reuyan reported.
“The incident was done in the workplace, during duty hours and in the presence of many people,” she added. Jerry Tan