Aris: ‘I shall return’

By Helen Castaño | 08:48 PM May 28, 2024

Bohol Gov. Erico Aris Aumentado said he would return after the Office of the Ombudsman suspended him and other 68 officials for six months.

“I shall return,” he told reporters after he annnounced his suspension on Tuesday to Capitol Employees.

He asked the employees to do their best in the name of public service.

“Pagtinarung intawon mo kay nagkinahanglan ang katawhang Bol-anon sa inyong tinud-anay nga serbisyo,” he told employees while leaving the Capitol premises.

“Dili kita mohunong sa pagbuhat sa maayo ug matarong aron panalipdan nato ang atong kalikupan, samtang atong ipahiluna nga ang tanan makasakay sa kalambuan. Hangyoon ko kamo nga mabilin sa capitolyo, nga ampingan Ninyo ang inyong trabaho sa pagserbisyo sa katawhan. Kay kini ang atong gibarugan.
Maghiusa kitang mga Bol-anon sa pag-atubang niining hagit karon. Pabilin kita nga mag-maligon ug mo-abante paingon sa mas mala-umon nga kaugmaon,” he added.

The Field Investigation Office (FIO) charged the officials with “grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service relative to to the construction, operation and expansion of The Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort in barangay Canmano in Sagbayan town, an establishment nestled in the middle of the CHNM, a declared protected area.”

Ombudsman said “Captain’s Peak was allegedly constructed, operated and further developed without the required Environmental Impact Assessment, Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) and Special Use Agreement  in  Protected Areas (SAPA) from the Environmemtal Management Bureau (EMB) of DENR. 

The Captain’s Peak was issued with mayor’s business, building and locational permits for the years 2020-2024 despite the repeated failure to secure the permits and clearances from the DENR. 

Ombudsman said the officials tolerated the operation and expansion of Capain’s Peak despite its lack of environmental clearances and permits and flagrant violations of the NIPAS and E-NIPAs Act.” 

The Chocolate Hills, composed of 1,700 hills, are protected National Integrated Protected Area System Act of 1992(NIPAS Act of 1992)  and Expanded National Integrated Protected Area System Act of 2018 (E-NIPAS Act of 2018).

Other suspended officials were mayors Restituto Suarez III (Sagbayan), Antonino, Jumawid (Batuan), Elizabeth Mandin-Pace (Catigbian), Eugeniano Ibarra (Clarin), Norman Palacio (Bilar), Michael Doria (Sierra Bullones), Dionisio Neil Balite (Valencia) and Conchita Toribio-Delos Reyes (Carmen). 

Also suspended were former mayors Manuel Jayectin (Bilar), Simplicio Maestrado Jr. (Sierra Bullones), Maria Katrina Lim (Valencia), Calixto Garcia (Valencia) and Ricardo Toribio (Carmen) and Bilar Vice Mayor Ranulfo Maligmat was also included. 

Ma. Victoria Abrera, regional director of Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (EMB-DENR);  Paquito Melicor, DENR regional executive director and Gilbert Gonzales, regional dirextor of DENR Region 7, PAMB Chairman, were also suspended. 

Several village captains in Bilar, Carmen, Sagbayan, Batuan, Bilar, Dagohoy, Clarin also faced six-month suspension.