The Negros Occidental provincial Capitol employee, who authorized the collection of a P1 donation for the use of the comfort rooms at the Capitol Lagoon Park in Bacolod City said the money is all accounted for.

Jennifer Iral said the collection was done in good faith and was based on Ordinance No. 28, Series of 1996 stating that a minimum donation of P1 shall be charged for the use of comfort rooms. Iral said she apologized to Capitol officials for not seeking clearance from higher authorities before putting up a donation box at the comfort rooms but said she did it in good faith.

She said the comfort rooms had newly been renovated and she thought that the collection of donations could help in their upkeep. A wooden box with a lock placed outside the comfort rooms also had signs printed on it that said "Please drop payment here" and "The key is with the treasurer".

Iral said the donation box was put up last week and its contents had been turned over to the treasurer's office.

She showed the DAILY STAR two official receipts from the treasurer's office - one for P670 issued on Jan. 12, and another for P416 issued on Jan. 17.

All the donations are properly accounted for, she said. She said she wanted to ensure that the comfort rooms are taken care of, noting that some people enter it and wash their dirty feet in the sinks, the flush knob of one of the toilets has already disappeared, and a crazy person goes in and out of the comfort room at will.

Gov. Joseph Marañon, who earlier ordered a probe on the collection of the P1 donation without clearing it with him, yesterday said he had the comfort rooms renovated to serve the needs of people who use the Capitol Lagoon Park.

He said he hopes the people who use the comfort rooms do their share by helping to also keep them clean.

He noted that in other places, fees for the use of public comfort rooms are also charges, pointing out that in Makati City the rate is P10.

However, the governor said his tendency is not to allow the imposition of a fee for the use of the Capitol Lagoon Park comfort rooms. We will have to discuss the matter with the Sanggunian since there is an ordinance that exists, he said.*CPG

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