DENR employee in Cebu convicted of graft

The Cebu City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 12 has convicted a Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) employee who demanded P100,000 from woman for the processing of a miscellaneous sale application (MSA) for a lot in Talisay City, Cebu.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Office of the Ombudsman said that the accused, Edwin Atentar, was found guilty of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act 3019).

In March 2006, Atentar, who was a special land investigator of the DENR Community Environment and Natural Resources Office, demanded P100,000 from the complainant, Virgilia Seguerra, for the processing of the MSA for a lot in San Isidro, Talisay City.

Since the price was “too steep,” the Ombudsman said Seguerra requested that the payment be made on a staggered basis.

For the first tranche, Atentar received P8,000 from Seguerra.

“After waiting for several months without any update on the application, Seguerra demanded that Atentar return the money,” the Office of the Ombudsman disclosed.

“In August 2006, Atentar was able to return only P5,000 as evidenced by a receipt acknowledged and signed by him,” it said.

In a court judgment dated Feb. 8, 2018, Cebu RTC Branch 12 Presiding Judge Estela Alma Singco said that “as shown in the testimony of prosecution witness Seguerra, accused went twice to the university where she was teaching for no apparent reason than to demand money.”

The court ruled that Atentar had no authority to obtain the P100,000 fee.

“This was never refuted by accused,” the judge said. “More telling is accused’s persistence in obtaining the money for purported occupation fee although he has no authority to accept the same.”

Singco sentenced Atentar to imprisonment of six years and one month to 10 years and six months and perpetually disqualified him from holding public office.

The court also ordered Atentar to return the remaining amount of P3,000 to Seguerra. /atm