Bacolod probes workers behind missing vehicles

CITY HALL GROUNDS Government workers from the barangays and the police entrusted with vehicles owned by Bacolod City are told to immediately bring them to the Bacolod City Government Center grounds (shown in this photo taken in September 2022) for inventory. —PHOTO COURTESY OF RONNIE BALDONADO

BACOLOD CITY—At least 45 individuals will have some explaining to do about the city-owned vehicles assigned to them that remained missing three weeks after an inventory was made by the City Hall here.

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said he would issue notices to those who were entrusted with these government vehicles to shed light on the matter.

“These 45 persons need to explain why based on records the vehicle is with them but cannot be located or accounted for,” he said in an interview on Feb. 20.

As of Feb. 21, an inventory conducted by the city’s General Services Office showed that 45 government vehicles were nowhere to be found while 77 others were accounted for but still not physically seen.

Most of these vehicles, the mayor said, were issued to the barangays or the Bacolod City Police Office.

Employees who were issued the city-owned vehicles were required to bring them to the Bacolod City Government Center grounds for inventory and those who could not account for vehicles assigned to them could face malversation charges, said the mayor.

City Administrator Pacifico Maghari III earlier said the mayor has noticed that a number of the city’s vehicles were left idle the whole day while some were being used personally by the assigned employees.

Use of ride-hailing app

Benitez said a new system is being proposed to put a bar code in all city vehicles so they could easily be tracked.

The physical inventory of the city government-owned vehicles started last month as part of the preparations for the establishment of a ride-hailing system for its departments and offices.

The system, called the “Mayor Albee Bantug Benitez Cab” or “MABB Cab,” is a mobile app that is similar to ride-hailing apps, wherein any government office that needs transportation service assistance can book a ride to conduct their field work or services.

This initiative is one way to monitor the condition of vehicles and to ensure that all the drivers of the city government will function according to their duties, especially since there are offices that need transportation assistance, said Benitez.

The Office of the Ombudsman has been reminding government officials and employees not to use government-owned vehicles for personal trips otherwise they will face charges. The antigraft office has also been encouraging the public to report any misuse of government vehicles. INQ