Prov’l gov’t probes missing 789 bags of fertilizer

The Provincial Legal Office is investigating five provincial government personnel assigned at the Rice Processing Center (RPC) warehouse at Tabunan, Bago City after 789 bags of fertilizer worth P2.3 million were reported missing at the facility.

Atty. Alberto Nellas, provincial legal officer, said his office has received a report about it from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) and the Security and Safety Division (SSD) on April 3 this year.

“We are verifying the report especially the persons involved for the purpose of issuing a show cause order,” he said.

Nellas said the fertilizers were from the Department of Agriculture as a grant and the provincial government distributes it to local government units in the province.

He added that the fertilizers were discovered missing after the municipal government of Cauayan went to the RPC to get their share of the fertilizers but no fertilizers were found at the warehouse.

Nellas, however, did not say why it was only now that an investigation was being conducted when it was discovered in October last year.

Of the five employees, two are from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) and two are security personnel, he said.

We are still determining if the security personnel are employees under the Security and Safety Office or security guards from a security agency, he pointed out.

Nellas said the OPA report showed that “there was no forcible entry nor was there any damage to any part of the structure.”

“There is an angle of an inside job,” he also said.

The employees involved have been reshuffled to other offices during their fact-finding, Nellas said.

The P64 million RPC is a provincial government owned-facility that was inaugurated in April 2015 in rites led by the late President Benigno Aquino III.

The state-of-the-art rice processing facility was put up to help farmers improve their productivity which will also help the province sustain its food sufficiency program.

Nellas said that the investigation report showed discrepancies such as the physical count of delivered items dispensed with especially in the case of night deliveries, delivery receipts were allowed to be issued later than the actual delivery, and watchmen noted that the seal of the cargo was damaged on arrival at the RPC.

The report also said there were no signs of forcible entry, which ruled out the possibility of robbery or theft considering the volume of missing fertilizer.

He said the PLO has recommended the issuance of show cause orders to the concerned employees.

The case of the missing fertilizers was already reported to the Bago City Police Station, Nellas said.* (Eugene Y. Adiong)