By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

An arrest warrant has been issued against Central Negros Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Ceneco) General Manager Sulpicio Lagarde, Jr. on falsification charges. The warrant, which was issued last month by Judge Remegio Rojo of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities-Branch 5, pertains to Criminal Case No. 11-06-20219.

The case, which was initially filed by former Ceneco board member, Atty. Enrique Tabino, surrounds allegations concerning the falsification of an official document.

Aside from Lagarde, the court also ordered the arrest of former Ceneco Board President Edward Gasambelo.

The two were previously convicted last August for falsifying Ceneco Board Resolution No. 8560-A series of 2009, which applied for a provisional Ceneco rate increase before the Energy Regulatory Commission. The court ruled Lagarde and Gasambelo should “suffer the penalty of imprisonment of three years, six months, and twenty-one days to four years, nine months and ten days.”

They also recommended “a fine of P5,000 with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency.”

Lagarde, who is planning on retiring, said his lawyer already filed a motion for reconsideration.

He called the matter “a nuisance case.”/DGB, WDJ