BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Five employees of the Office of the Provincial Agriculture, including a division chief, are in hot water as they face possible charges of grave misconduct and misuse of government property while on official travel on July 15, in Victorias City, Negros Occidental.
Provincial Legal Officer Atty. Alberto Nellas Jr. yesterday confirmed issuing a show cause order against a division chief of OPA, three engineers and a staff member, allegedly for engaging in a drinking session while on official travel, based on the complaints of a Capitol cab operator.
Nellas, however, withheld the identities of five OPA senior employees pending investigations into the allegations of the complainant.
Based on evidence initially gathered, Nellas said the travel order of five respondents stated that they will have a meeting at 2 p.m. of July 15 at the Victorias City Hall.
But they were nowhere to be found by the Capitol cab driver, until the Victorias City Hall closed at 8 p.m. of the same day. When checked at the OPA for their location, the respondents were found to have been in a drinking session at a restaurant in Victorias City, Nellas added.
Worse, the Capitol cab driver was cursed by the OPA senior official when he informed them that he waited hours for them, Nellas further said.
He said the actuations of five OPA employees are tantamount to grave misconduct and conduct unbecoming of a public official.
The five OPA employees, who are still reporting for duty at OPA, have been given five days to answer the allegations hurled against them, he added.*
