BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said his administration is serious about addressing alleged anomalies in the Negros Occidental provincial government.
Lacson made the statement in response to the disappearance of almost 800 sacks of fertilizer stored at the Rice Processing Center (RPC) as well as the three grass cutters worth P20,000 in Barangay Tabunan, Bago City.
The governor said the perpetrators should know better that they won’t be able to get away.
“I hope our government employees notice that we are serious as far as disciplining our personnel is concerned,” Lacson said.
Previously, Provincial Agriculturist Edmundo Causing said his office in Barangay Tabunan failed to receive three grass cutters. It was learned that the farm equipment was delivered and left behind at the Infotech area in the said barangay.
Causing said the incident took place prior to Holy Week, wherein the person who was supposed to receive the equipment could not be contacted.
The grass cutters were reported missing on April 12.
Although initial reports from the Provincial Legal Office (PLO) revealed there were no signs of forced entry when the sacks of fertilizer went missing, the grass cutters, meanwhile, were left in an area where it could have been easily carted away.
The PLO suspects that the disappearance of the sacks of fertilizer was an inside job.
At present, the guards who were supposed to secure the warehouse are currently on status quo, and the remaining items stored in the facility have been secured.
Both incidents are being probed by the Bago City Police Station.
Earlier, PLO head Atty. Alberto Nellas Jr. said they were preparing show cause orders that would be issued to some personnel of the RPC in relation to the missing fertilizers.
Nellas could not disclose yet as to how many people in the facility will be held liable, although it was previously mentioned to include two personnel of the Office of the Provincial Agriculture and three from the provincial government’s Safety and Security Division.
The P2.3 million worth of fertilizers were given to the provincial government as a grant by the Department of Agriculture. The provincial government, in turn, is responsible for its distribution among the 31 local government units in the province./PN
