AGANA, Guam — Malaya publisher Jake Macasaet and Channel 4 chief cameraman Jun Gabriel nearly stole the show last weekend from taipan Dr. Lucio C. Tan who arrived here at dawn Saturday for a grand award ceremony and his appointment as this American island’s ambassador-at-large.

For a while there, we thought the Capitan (that’s Tan to his co-workers) would have his first test at diplomatic trouble-shooting by extricating Jake and Jun from humorless immigration officers at the Agana international airport. The duo was eventually allowed entry before the pair could claim celebrity status.

Jake and Jun came on the same Philippine Airlines airbus as Tan, who happens to be PAL chairman and our insurance that the aircraft was in tip-top condition.

An immigration screener with Nokasa on his uniform’s name strip asked the visitor from Manila the usual question of why he came over. Jake said quite truthfully that he was here to cover the Tan events.

Press coverage, which is routine to us, must have sounded to Nokasa like it was hard labor, so he asked Jake more categorically if he was going to work while here. “Well, if coverage is work, then I guess I’ll be working,” he replied.

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WHAT IS WORK?: That started it, including an exchange on what is considered “work.” Jake assured the screener that he had no intention of looking for a job on this island adrift in the vast Pacific or of displacing any native worker.

We might add parenthetically that with his spending during his stay, Jake should — on the contrary — be commended for contributing his bit to the local economy.

But this is their country and they are in charge. Immigration will always have the last word, even with a member of the Manila press who always seems to have a repartee to anything thrown his way.

In many media gatherings hardly anybody outtalks Jake. That, we see in hindsight, might have been part of the problem.

As veteran editorialist Adrian Cristobal would counsel the younger crop, nobody talks back to an immigration sentry who just woke up for dawn duty. A former bureaucrat himself, Adrian reminded us over coffee the following morning that American screeners holding the line at ports of entry take their jobs rather seriously. They had been stripped of their sense of humor.

There was really no serious violation to throw at this irreverent newsman, but the Nokasa guy still pulled Jake aside, obviously bent on giving him a humbling experience. He took him to the supervisor, somebody by the name of Deviera or something and who appeared just as good as his subordinate at playing hardball.

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HE HAS A NAME: But Deviera made the mistake of summoning Jake by waving a crooked finger at him, something the latter could not take. “You have my passport,” he told Deviera. “My name is there and if you want to call me you can call me by my name.”

When the Latino-type officer finally addressed him “Mr. Macasaet,” Jake straightened up, smiled through his bushy mustache and said “That’s better.”

At that point, the kinks — which were dismissed by Tribune publisher Ninez Olivarez as nothing but a matter of cultural differences — were more or less smoothened out. Jake was soon allowed through immigration to join his waiting colleagues.

What we do not understand was the case of Jun who basically was in the same predicament but who had to pay something like $195 that, according to how it was explained to him, was a “waiver” fee.

Who waived what? We asked Jun, but he himself was confused (but relieved that the encounter with Immigration was over).

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VISA-ISSUANCE IS CONSULAR: Jun’s seatmate on the tour bus tried explaining that the fee must have been payment for his temporarily being given a working “I” (journalist) visa. But based on what little we know about these things, that was not plausible since the Immigration and Naturalization Service is an agency under the US Department of Justice.

Neither the DoJ nor the INS is in the business of issuing visas. That is a consular function done mostly by the Department of State through American consulates around the world.

This explains partly why a visa issued by the US consulate in Manila is no guarantee that the INS in, say, a California port of entry will open the door automatically to the visitor from Manila.

This basic delineation of functions, of course, has its exceptions. We know, for instance, that the INS sometimes issues what is called a parole visa to applicants for entry or for continued stay whose cases are still under consideration. The INS allows the holder of a parole visa temporary stay.

We asked Jake if he was also made to pay. He said No. We understand, we explained to him, that crime does not pay.

We also learned that some newspapers reported his close encounter with INS, but that was all right so long as they spelled his name right.

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TAN FINALLY APPRECIATED: Almost forgotten in the kapihan chatter here was Jake’s pal, billionaire Lucio C. Tan, whose businesses on the island contribute an estimated $500-million annually, or about a sixth of Guam’s $3-billion gross domestic product.

Usually left unappreciated in his own country, Tan has found recognition here. Guam Gov. Carl T.C. Gutierrez (his name sounds Filipino but he is not a Pinoy) bestowed on Tan in a grand ceremony Saturday evening the Ancient Order of Chamorri and appointed him ambassador at-large. He also declared Nov. 4 (yesterday) as “Dr. Lucio Tan Day” on this 30-mile-long island in the Marianas.

Gutierrez cited among many other things Tan’s humanitarian act after typhoon Chata’an devastated Guam last July. Philippine Airlines, which is controlled by Tan, shipped to the island for free 60 power generators bought from PriceSmart for $40,000, and literally saved thousands of lives.

Known for his quiet philanthropy and his concern for the environment, Tan has donated millions to assist communities hit by disasters, protect the environment, promote scholarship and sports, curb the drug menace, and help religious and charitable institutions.

On Guam, Tan owns the Micronesia Mall whose 700,000 square feet of leaseable space (with Macy’s spread on 85,000 sq. ft. of it) is the biggest in the Marianas. His other businesses include the American Bakery, the biggest on the island, and the Oceanic Bank.

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FILIPINO PRESENCE: One out of every three Guamanians one meets is a Filipino. While Guamanians are US citizens, they have been denied the right to elect their own senator or a voting representative in the US Congress. They cannot vote in federal elections.

The biggest sources of income for Guam are US military spending and tourism. Tourist arrivals have dropped to 1.1 million in 2001, 90 percent of them Japanese who spend during an average stay of four nights around $500 per head (aside from what has been pre-paid in Japan).

Managing the tourist trade is the Guam Visitors Bureau that has only 40 staffers — 30 on Guam and 10 in Japan. It also has three to five liaison officers each in Korea, California, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

Philippine Airlines, the first Asian airline to cross the Pacific, flies here three times a week. Round-trip fare is $435.