With a well-decorated professional background: a Certified Public Accountant, a Master’s in Business Administration, and a Certified Real Estate Broker and Appraiser, and one of the youngest, if not the youngest, Revenue District Officer of Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) 114 Mati City at that, Abolhasan Sarip Balindong or Sir Abol – as what he is fondly called – is definitely at the top of his game.
But, who really is Sir Abol?
The 3rd child in a family with 6 siblings, a husband to Farnaidah Taib Menor, and a present father to his son. Balindong prides himself of being a father whom his son can call his best friend too, and vice versa. A father who is not afraid of being open and vulnerable to his child, a father who invests in his relationship with his son by spending quality time with him – just as how a best friend would.
As Sir Abol to his employees: “A down to earth and a soft spoken.”, that is how he is described by one of them in 113. As he left the 113A West Davao to be transferred to his current posting, this prompted his employee to express their heartfelt gratitude to the calm, collected, and simple-and-easy-to-make-him-laugh boss. They described him as a man who is unafraid to take on new duties and is undaunted by uncertainty. Yet, they also regarded him as someone with whom they can seek refuge during down times.
They say how a person sees you after your encounter with them carries more value and the word-of-mouth matters. It reveals your character, your personality. It reveals you.
When asked how and why he does what he does as a boss, Balindong gave a thoughtful and humane response: “I want them to work because they love their job, not because of fear that I will reprimand them.”
It is an understatement to say that he is a proven and tested, capable leader. With a career that started in the bureau as Revenue Officer I in the Assessment Division of RR 18 Cotabato City (now Koronadal City), assigned in RDO 110 General Santos City from June 2004 to April 2009, transferred to RDO 98 Cagayan de Oro City from April 2009 to January 2010, moved to RDO 113A West Davao on Jan 2010. From 113 to 132 East Davao then to 113 again wherein he was designated as Group Supervisor in 2017. In April 2019 he was designated as ARDO of East Davao. All these rich experiences under his belt.
It is evident that he possesses not only a heart, but also practical knowledge for service. For some reason, this particular life story, a quote from Fr. Roque Ferriols, SJ once said, “Huwag tanungin kung mahirap, tanungin kung mahalaga.” As people navigate in this fast-paced, capitalist world where we are required to hustle and work in order to live, sometimes it gets rough. We are only humans after all. But this kind of story is what makes life worth giving one more chance. However accomplished we will be, may we never forget to be kind, present, and responsible for all our duties in different areas of our life.
Sir Abol, may you have another meaningful trip around the sun. (BY RIZIA MAY P. DUMANDAN)
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