Ombudsman suspends Nueva Ecija governor, but CA issues 60-day restraining order

Nueva Ecija Governor Aurelio Umali and two others are accused of issuing quarry permits without the required approval from the DENR.

PAMPANGA, Philippines – The Office of the Ombudsman has issued a suspension order against Nueva Ecija Governor Aurelio Umali for allegedly illegally issuing 205 quarry permits, but a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the Court of Appeals (CA) is likely to stop its implementation.

Umali, his wife, former Governor Czarina Umali, and Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer (PENRO) Wilfredo Pangilinan were accused in an administrative complaint of grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the interest of the service.

The Department of Interior (DILG) delivered a copy of the order to the governor’s office on May 20. However, the governor did not receive the order the same day because he was out of office. He had a valid travel authorization until May 21.

Umali confirmed to Rappler that the Ombudsman and the DILG had independently served the same order on May 22. He added that the complaint and the Ombudsman’s order to file a counter affidavit were only received on May 15, barely a week before the preventive suspension.

The CA issued a decision granting Umali’s request for a 60-day The temporary restraining order was issued on May 22, the same day the stay order was served.

“The plain copy presented was our basis to go to California and request a temporary restraining order. We received the temporary restraining order late in the afternoon of (May) 22, after paying the bail, which was part of the order,” Umali told Rappler on Monday, May 27.

“We will immediately prepare the petition by May 20 and instruct the DILG as provincial administrator to submit the petition for the TRO on the 22nd in the late afternoon of that day,” added Umali.

(This is why we were able to prepare the motion in a timely manner because the DILG had already sent a copy to my provincial administrator on May 22, so we were able to promptly file a motion for a temporary restraining order on May 22, which was issued late in the afternoon of the same day.)

Umali said he still needs to review the orders of the Ombudsman and the DILG and explore the remedies available under law.

The complaint was filed by Roberto Duldulao, a concerned citizen of Cabanatuan City, over the rampant issuance of quarry or sand and gravel mining permits without the mandatory Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) from 2014 to 2018.

In his order, the Ombudsman cited Committee Report 967 of the US House of Representatives Committee on Good Governance and Public Accountability, which said Umalis required the submission of Local Environmental Impact Certificates (LECCs) instead of the ECC before issuing sand and gravel permits, which was a “clear circumvention of the law”.

Pangilinan conspired with the Umalis in committing the illegal act by continually complying with the LECC regulations and making recommendations for the approval of quarry permits, the order said.

The provincial government also collected taxes on the sand and gravel mined, but the tax shares of the affected local government units were not released.

According to the Local Government Code of 1991, local governments are entitled to receive gross revenues from mining taxes, royalties from mineral reserves, forestry fees, and fees and revenues from energy resources in their areas. Based on the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, an excise tax of 4% is levied on the minerals or quarry resources mined based on the actual market value of the gross output of the products at the time of their removal.

In addition, the committee also found “glaring differences” in actual tax revenues from sand, gravel and other quarries between Pampanga and Nueva Ecija. Nueva Ecija’s land area is more than twice that of Pampanga, which is “indicative of misreporting of income taxes on sand and gravel,” the committee report said.

Umali is currently serving his second term. He replaced his wife, who served as governor from 2016 to 2019. – Rappler.com