Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Monday, July 3, that Supervising Agriculturist Dina Gensola will be the officer-in-charge of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) effective immediately.
Gensola was appointed OIC following the resignation of Edmundo Raul Causing as provincial agriculturist for health reasons, pending the appointment of his permanent replacement.
Meanwhile, Lacson assured that the two OPA personnel facing charges for the missing 789 bags of Department of Agriculture fertilizer are being given all the opportunity to defend themselves.
The two are Herminigildo Basilio and Joy Cardinal, who both hold the position of Agriculturist 1.
The contract of Cardinal who is a casual employee will not be renewed while Basilio is being given the opportunity to defend himself, Lacson said.
“They have to admit that somebody told them to do it. In the absence of that, based on hard evidence its really their signatures that appeared in the receiving form,” he said.
Lacson said the missing fertilizer really affected Causing and may have contributed to his resignation, aside from its affecting his health.
The governor said perhaps Causing felt that morally the missing fertilizer incident happened under his watch.*