DA agency robbed of P1.4M computers used to analyze pesticides

Two computer sets with database software worth P1.425 million were reported missing from a laboratory of the Bureau of Plant Industry in Quezon City.

Insp. Alan dela Cruz, chief of the Quezon City Police District theft and robbery section, said the computer program has been designed to analyze the chemical content of pesticides.

A laboratory analyst identified as Alexander Faustino discovered that the computers were missing when he reported for work on Monday 6:45 a.m. at the Instrument Room-1 Formulation Unit of the National Pesticide Analytical Laboratory inside the BPI compound on Visayas Avenue.

Dela Cruz said some employees worked overtime during the weekend.

The BPI is an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture.

Police investigators lifted fingerprints from the laboratory’s unlocked sliding glass window and the printer placed beside one of the missing computers.

Dela Cruz said there was no sign of forced entry and the lifted fingerprints were being matched with BPI employees who had access to the laboratory.

Reached by phone, Faustino refused to disclose details for lack of clearance from his superiors but said the theft had left the staff “shaken.”

(With a report from Ria Consuelo Mendoza)