Books from Capitol found at junkshop

CEBU, Philippines — Notebooks and history books from the Provincial School Board (PSB) were retrieved from a junkshop in Barangay Canduman, Mandaue City last Friday.

The notebooks and books were recovered after the Cebu Provincial General Services Office received a tip about piles of government notebooks and books at a junkshop.

The school supplies are for grades 3 and 4 students. Recovered were 200 sets for grade 3 students worth P8,708 and 584 sets for grade 4 students worth P25,427.

The books recovered, at least 135 of them, chronicle the history of the cities and municipalities in Cebu Province.

Bernard Calderon, officer in charge of the Philippine General Services Office, said they have identified the PSB employee who sold the school supplies to the junkshop for one peso per kilo. The employee reportedly earned an estimated P4,000 from the school supplies.

Calderon said the employee was assigned at the warehouse, which was why he had access to the school supplies and was able to pull them out even without an official order.

The employee reportedly sold the notebooks after he was instructed to "clear" the warehouse of the school supplies that remained after initial distribution at the opening of the current school year.

It is still unclear whether or not the employee worked alone in selling the school supplies. He is currently on floating status and is under investigation.

"Whatever initial investigations nga akong gi-conduct, I will be forwarding it to the Committee of Discipline and Investigation," Calderon said.

The notebooks and history books are still in good condition and will be distributed to public schools in the next school year.

Meanwhile, hundreds of undistributed notebooks donated in 2017 were also discovered recently at the Cebu International Convention Center and will also be given to students in the province. —  JMO (FREEMAN)