A Manila court has found an employee of the Department of Labor and Employment guilty of graft and estafa for asking money from a security agency executive in exchange for the approval of a permit issued by the department.
In a press statement issued by the Office of the Ombudsman Monday, Labor Employment Officer III Martin Dela Merced, alias Arnold Cruz, demanded and received the amount of P7,000 from complainant Rudy Cariaga, vice president and treasurer of a security agency, for the issuance of an Occupational Safety and Health Practitioner Certificate of Accreditation.
ela Merced was sentenced to a maximum of seven years imprisonment and perpetual disqualification from public office for violating the anti-graft law, and a maximum of six years imprisonment and pay the fine of P5,000 for his conviction for estafa through falsification of public document.
He was also ordered to return the P7,000 he received from Cariaga.
Records have it that in February 2006, Cariaga met Dela Merced, who introduced himself as Arnold Cruz, during a bidding activity at Petron Corporation. As a bidder, Cariaga was required to secure basic occupational safety and health certificate from the DOLE-Bureau of Working Conditions.
A week after submitting the requirements, Cariaga received a text message from Dela Merced telling him that his application for accreditation was denied. Dela Merced then offered Cariaga to fix the approval of the accreditation in exchange for P12,000, which was later lowered to P7,000.
Judge Reynaldo Ros, in his decision, said the “prosecution was able to prove that the accused falsified the signature of Director Villafuerte on the Occupational Safety and Health Practitioner Certificate of Accreditation which the accused used in deceiving complainant Rudy Cariaga…The accused appropriated and converted the money for his own use.”
The Office of the Ombudsman said Section 3 (c) of the Anti-Graft Law prohibits public employees from “directly or indirectly requesting or receiving any gift, present, or other pecuniary or material benefit, for himself or for another person for whom the public officer, in any manner or capacity, has secured or obtained any government permit or license, in consideration for the help given or has to be given.”
Source: gmanetwork
