DENR official nabbed in entrapment

MANILA, Philippines – Graft investigators of the Office of the Ombudsman in team-up with National Bureau of Investigation agents announced yesterday the arrest of a survey officer of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources who allegedly asked for money in exchange for the approval of a lot plan application.

Though the amount only involves P4,000, Assistant Ombudsman Mark Jalandoni said Gerardo Trinidad will make history as the very first public official to be entrapped under the Anti-Red Tape Act which was enacted in 2007. The suspect who holds a position as Cartographer 1 at the Survey Section of the DENR’s Calabarzon division was nabbed at his office in Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City.

Jalandoni said the Field Investigation Office Anti-Fixer Task Force as well as elements of its Task Force Marshal worked together with the NBI’s anti-graft and planned, and carried out the entrapment operation on June 11.

According to him, the victim, Joler Bordamonte, called up the Office of the Ombudsman’s hotline number on May 27 to report how he is being victimized by Trinidad. He told FIO graft investigators Wilger Urmaza, Norman Filart and Andrew Asperin that his parents-in-law sold a portion of their property in Taytay, Rizal to him in February, a transaction which requires the approval of a lot plan from the DENR.

Bribe

After hiring a private surveyor to do the job, Bordamonte brought the documents to Trinidad who allegedly demanded P4,000 for the speedy processing and release of his papers. The victim said he gave the DENR officer P2,000 as an initial payment and eventually informed the Office of the Ombudsman about the red tape.

Jalandoni said graft probers with NBI agents Johnny Caguiat and Marvin Rabuya placed Trinidad under arrest as soon as he accepted the second P2,000 during the entrapment operation.

Jalandoni said the DENR survey officer will be charged with violation of Section 11(b) of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA 9485, also known as the country’s Anti-Red Tape Law. Aside from imprisonment, he said the law imposes a fine of up to P200,000.