Bohol Governor Appeals Suspension – Philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines – Bohol Governor Erico Aumentado yesterday filed a motion seeking reconsideration of his six-month preventive suspension order issued by the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the construction of a resort in the foothills of the Chocolate Hills.

Aumentado expressed dismay at the suspension order, saying the charges against him were baseless.

“I am truly surprised by this precautionary suspension order,” he said in a statement. “I categorically deny any involvement in approving the construction, operation and expansion of Captain’s Peak Resort.”

Aumentado and 68 other local officials, including city mayors, were charged with gross misconduct, gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service in connection with the construction, operation and expansion of a resort in Canmano, Sagbayan.

Aumentado stated that he was a congressman for Bohol’s second district in 2018 and was not invited to the Protected Area Board meeting last year when the resort development was approved.

“It is unfair to hold me responsible for decisions made without my knowledge or participation,” he said. “My conscience is clear. I have no control over this fiasco at all.

The resort does not have an environmental compliance certificate or a Special Use Agreement in Protected Areas issued by the Environmental Management Office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The Commissioner’s Office of Field Investigations found that public respondents “acted with manifest bias, manifest bad faith, gross inexcusable negligence, and committed gross violations” of the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act and the expanded NIPAS Act.