NEGROS Occidental Provincial Legal Officer Alberto Nellas Jr. said they are nearing resolution on the case of 789 sacks of missing fertilizers at the Capitol warehouse in Barangay Tabunan, Bago City.
Nellas said his office has already received a response from two employees of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) who were formally charged in connection with the disappearance of fertilizer from the Negros First Rice Processing Center (NFRPC).
He said the formal investigation hearing for Hermenegildo Basilio and Joy Cardinal, both Agriculturists 1 of OPA, will no longer proceed and that since Basilio is a regular employee of the provincial government, he has the right to submit a position paper.
Cardinal, meanwhile, is recommended by the PLO not to have her contract renewed as a casual employee.
Based on Basilio's response to the PLO, he claimed that he was merely instructed to sign for the fertilizer received from the Department of Agriculture.
However, Nellas said Basilio still accepted responsibility for the incident.
The provincial legal officer further added that the evidence presented to them is sufficient for them to make a decision on the case.
On October 18, 2022, the municipality of Cauayan reported that they were not able to withdraw the fertilizers allotted to them at the NFRPC since there were no more fertilizers left and that the subsequent inventory count would reveal that 789 bags of the abovementioned fertilizers had an established value of P2,367,000.
Both Cardinal and Basilio were in charge of the warehouse at the time of the disappearance of the fertilizer bags.
The fertilizer bags stored at the NFRPC were given as a grant by the DA, and the provincial government was responsible for distributing them among the 31 local government units in the province.*