By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said his administration is serious about addressing anomalies that have recently surfaced within the provincial government.
Lacson made the statement in response to the disappearance of 789 sacks of fertilizers and three grass cutters at the Rice Processing Center and Infotech warehouse in Bago City’s Barangay Tabunan.
According to Lacson, the perpetrators should know better that they won’t be able to get away with it once they take notice.
“All these should stop already,” Lacson said.
However, he pointed out that his statements were not a warning, but rather informing provincial government employees that they had been doing investigations and some even had to leave.
“I hope our government employees notice that we are serious as far as disciplining our personnel is concerned,” he said.
Previously, provincial agriculturist Dr. Edmundo Causing said the warehouse failed to receive three grass cutters worth P20,000 each.
Although initial reports from the Provincial Legal Office (PLO) revealed that there were no signs of forced entry into the warehouse when the sacks of fertilizers went missing.
The grass cutters were stored in an area where they could have been easily carted away.
The PLO is also suspecting that the disappearance of almost 800 sacks of fertilizers was an inside job.
The guards who were supposed to secure the warehouse are currently on status quo.
Earlier, PLO head Atty. Alberto Nellas, Jr. was unable to reveal yet as to how many people in the facility will be held liable over the disappearance of the fertilizers.
Those who were allegedly involved include two personnel from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist and three from the provincial government’s Safety and Security Division.
Based on the incident report received by the PLO, the fertilizers were discovered missing after the Cauayan local government unit visited the warehouse to get its share of the fertilizer bags worth P2.3 million.
They were given as a grant by the Department of Agriculture, and the provincial government was responsible for distributing them among the 31 local government units in the province./DGB, WDJ