789 bags of fertilizer in Bago City warehouse missing

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

BACOLOD CITY — A total of 789 bags of fertilizer stored in a provincial government-owned warehouse in Barangay Tabunan, Bago City in Negros Occidental have been missing since October 2022.

Lawyer Alberto Nellas Jr., provincial legal officer (PLO), last Wednesday said the missing sacks of fertilizer worth P2.36 million were given by the Department of Agriculture.

He said show cause orders were set to be issued to at least five provincial government personnel at the Rice Processing Center (RPC) warehouse to explain why the 789 bags of fertilizer vanished.

The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist on April 3 submitted an investigation report to PLO which recommended the issuance of show cause orders against the warehouse personnel.

Nellas, however, withheld the names of those who were set to receive show cause orders pending service of the orders.

The investigation report showed there were times when the physical count of delivered items was dispensed with, especially in the case of night deliveries.

Delivery receipts were also allowed to be issued later than the actual delivery while watchmen noted that the seal of the cargo was damaged on arrival at the RPC.

The report ruled out the possibility of robbery or theft, considering the volume of missing fertilizers.

There were also no signs of forcible entry inside the RPC, the report said.

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