‘Under delivery’ eyed in missing fertilizer fiasco

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental  Provincial Administrator Atty. Rayfrando Diaz is entertaining the possibility that “under delivery” might explain the case of missing sacks of fertilizer at the capitol storage.

Diaz said this is possible since the delivery was not properly accounted for because it was done in the middle of the night.

The issue of the missing 789 bags of fertilizer from the Capitol warehouse in Brgy. Tabunan, Bago City, Negros Occidental has raised more questions than answers, he added.

Diaz questioned the delivery of fertilizer by the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) supplier to the provincial government warehouse “in the middle of the night.”

He further said the two employees of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist assigned to the warehouse took the risk of accepting the sacks and signing the document attesting to the complete delivery of the fertilizer.

The missing fertilizer is valued at P2.3 million.

The DA said that 4,000 bags of fertilizer were delivered and stored in the Rice Processing Center in Brgy. Tabunan for distribution to farmers affected by Typhoon Odette in Negros Occidental.

Diaz contended that as far as records of the provincial government are concerned, the party responsible for the missing fertilizer are the two OPA employees as they were the ones who signed the delivery receipt.

As to the claims that they were ordered to sign it in the middle of the night, he said that “they should put it into writing, and under oath.”

Diaz stressed that they cannot investigate beyond the documents available to them.

“Let’s not speculate beyond what the documents say,” he pointed out.

When asked about reports on the resignation of an OPA division chief who ordered Herminigildo Basilio and Joy Cardinal to sign for the delivered fertilizers, Diaz said he is not aware of it.

Cardinal, a contractual worker, will no longer be hired back by the capitol while Basilio, a regular employee, is still being given the chance to defend himself.

He confirmed though that OPA chief Edmundo Causing had tendered his resignation, which governor Eugenio Jose Lacson accepted.

Diaz said that Causing had been issued a show cause order in relation to the missing fertilizer, under the principle of command responsibility.

The resignation of Causing takes effect on August 1, 2023.

Earlier, the provincial government of Negros Occidental assured its full support to an investigation, if it is to be conducted by the Department of Agriculture Western Visayas regional office, on the 789 missing bags of fertilizer.

The DA had asked the provincial government of Negros Occidental to replace the missing fertilizer.

Diaz, said that the replacement or reparations must come from the guilty party.

Under the provincial government fertilizer program, Diaz said local government units that did not receive their allocations of fertilizer from DA will be prioritized.