MANILA, Philippines -- Is Liberal Party stalwart Liwayway Vinzons-Chato making a government comeback?

With the one-year ban on the appointment of losing candidates in last year’s elections already lifted, talk is rife that the former Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) chief who lost reelection as representative of Camarines Norte may be shortlisted for a key government position.

The Election Code bars the appointment of losing candidates in political offices for one year immediately after the election, but that prescription period had already lapsed.

While this may be good news for the likes of Chato, appointees currently in office have been fighting off demolition jobs aimed at discrediting them to cre¬ate top-level vacancies.

At the Bureau of Customs (BoC), Commissioner Angelito Alvarez has not been spared from talk that he will be among those affected by a major Cabinet revamp to accommodate losing allies of the President.

Alvarez’s camp is just shrugging off the rumors, but they are aware of the vilification campaign to oust him.

Recently, a complaint apparently filed by fictitious individuals before the Ombudsman claims that Alvarez has failed to put a stop on alleged irregularities in the BoC during his term of office.

But a quick check on the identities of the supposed employees who filed the charges showed they did not exist.

One of the complainants identified herself as Amy Arciaga. It turned out, however, this was the name of Alvarez’s sister, and there is no Customs employee by that name.

“There was no employee with such name at BoC,” Alvarez said. Upon verification, he said it turned out to be his sister’s name.

“Why will my sister sue me in the first place? We are related,” he said.

The Customs chief, who has been waging a war against smugglers, believes that there is a concerted effort to malign his name together with DoF Secretary Cesar Purisima, not mentioning the complaint was leaked in Malacañang.