Pasig city environment office chief gets 1 to 3 years for graft

The Sandiganbayan has convicted the Pasig City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) head of graft for failing to bid out the contract for seminars that environment protection officers of the city’s factories were required to take.

In a 20-page decision, the court’s Second Division found Cenro head Rachel Naciongayo guilty of one count of violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Perpetual disqualification

It sentenced her to a prison term ranging from one year and one month to up to three years while also perpetually disqualifying her from holding any government post.

Prosecutors had accused Naciongayo of giving unwarranted benefits to Enviserve Inc., which was hired to conduct an “environmental congress for capacity-building training” without the required public bidding.

In 2006 and 2007, the environment protection officers of Pasig City’s factories and industries were required to participate in the seminars if they wanted to secure environmental permits and renew their business permits. This allowed Enviserve to collect registration fees totaling P3,700 from each attendee.

The court faulted Naciongayo for accepting Enviserve’s Jan. 5, 2006 proposal without even considering its qualifications. The company registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission only on Nov. 22, 2006.