• THERESA MAE DULMAN
A Bacolod Environment and Natural Resources Office (BENRO) employee has been placed under a 60-day preventive suspension without pay while facing formal administrative charges for allegedly engaging in illegal fixing activities.
City Legal officer, Atty. Karol Joseph Chiu, confirmed Sept. 30 that Mayor Greg Gasataya has issued the suspension order and formal charge against an environmental management specialist II.
“Ang formal charge sa iya is violation of Ease of Doing Business, grave misconduct, solicitation of anything with monetary value, in connection with official duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service,” Chiu said, noting that the order was served to the BENRO employee Sept. 29.
The case stemmed from a complaint filed by a resort owner, after the employee claimed that he could facilitate and process the required environmental compliance documents, including an environmental compliance certificate and certificate of non-coverage.
Official records revealed that the BENRO staff received P10,000 from the complainant via a personal GCash transfer on Sept. 3, 2025, bypassing the official government collection system.
“He admitted that he received it in his GCash, but he claimed he was just trying to help. His justification was that it was allegedly for payments toward plans for a certain engineer, and he presented receipts that weren’t even official receipts,” Chiu said. | TMD
