Pasig City environment chief found guilty of graft
Published Dec 27, 2018 01:36 pm
By Czarina Nicole Ong
Raquel Naciongayo, head of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) of Pasig City, has been convicted by the Sandiganbayan Second Division for hiring the services of Enviserve Inc. back in 2006.
(Credits: Pixabay | Manila Bulletin)
Naciongayo, CENRO department head II, was convicted for violation of Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for hiring Enviserve Inc. on January 5, 2006 for the city's capacity building seminars.
This was done without the required competitive public bidding, and Enviserve was able to collect registration fees amounting to P1,700 and P2,000 for the 2006 and 2007 environment congress.
Naciongayo tried to argue that Enviserve was the only one who made an offer and submitted a proposal at no cost to the government. Due to the urgency of addressing environmental issues, she did not hesitate to partner with Enviserve.
She added that her actions were done in good faith, and she did so only to answer the demand for an information drive and capacity building for Environment Protection Officers.
For its part, the court said that the government procurement law should never be taken for granted. In Naciongayo's case, the court stressed that the services required by the CENRO should have passed public bidding.
"The proposal made by Enviserve Inc. on January 5, 2006 was hastily acceded to by the accused and she did not even bother to check whether said company has the legal personality to transact with the City of Pasig in the first place," the court ruled.
As for Naciongayo's argument of good faith, the court was not convinced as well. Things did not look good for her when the prosecution presented the cover sheet of Enviserve, which showed her name as the contact person.
"Further, the partiality of the accused became apparent when she readily affixed her conformity to the January 5, 2006 proposal of Enviserve, Inc. when fact is, it was only on November 22, 2006 or eleven months later that said company would register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and accused clearly became privy to Enviserve Inc.," the decision read.
Naciongayo was sentenced to imprisonment of one year and one month as minimum to three years as maximum. She was also perpetually disqualified from holding public office.
The 20-page decision was penned by Associate Justice Lorifel Pahimna with the concurrence of Chairperson Oscar Herrera Jr. and Associate Justice Michael Frederick Musngi.
(Credits: Pixabay | Manila Bulletin)
Naciongayo, CENRO department head II, was convicted for violation of Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for hiring Enviserve Inc. on January 5, 2006 for the city's capacity building seminars.
This was done without the required competitive public bidding, and Enviserve was able to collect registration fees amounting to P1,700 and P2,000 for the 2006 and 2007 environment congress.
Naciongayo tried to argue that Enviserve was the only one who made an offer and submitted a proposal at no cost to the government. Due to the urgency of addressing environmental issues, she did not hesitate to partner with Enviserve.
She added that her actions were done in good faith, and she did so only to answer the demand for an information drive and capacity building for Environment Protection Officers.
For its part, the court said that the government procurement law should never be taken for granted. In Naciongayo's case, the court stressed that the services required by the CENRO should have passed public bidding.
"The proposal made by Enviserve Inc. on January 5, 2006 was hastily acceded to by the accused and she did not even bother to check whether said company has the legal personality to transact with the City of Pasig in the first place," the court ruled.
As for Naciongayo's argument of good faith, the court was not convinced as well. Things did not look good for her when the prosecution presented the cover sheet of Enviserve, which showed her name as the contact person.
"Further, the partiality of the accused became apparent when she readily affixed her conformity to the January 5, 2006 proposal of Enviserve, Inc. when fact is, it was only on November 22, 2006 or eleven months later that said company would register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and accused clearly became privy to Enviserve Inc.," the decision read.
Naciongayo was sentenced to imprisonment of one year and one month as minimum to three years as maximum. She was also perpetually disqualified from holding public office.
The 20-page decision was penned by Associate Justice Lorifel Pahimna with the concurrence of Chairperson Oscar Herrera Jr. and Associate Justice Michael Frederick Musngi.