Bohol governor appeals suspension over Chocolate Hills fiasco

By: Leo Udtohan – 48 mins ago

BUSINESS IN THE HILLS The Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort in Sagbayan, Bohol, seen in this August 2023 photo, is trending on social media after netizens criticized the government and its owners for allowing its construction and operations in the Chocolate Hills, a conservation area. (File image by LEO UDTOHAN)

TAGBILARAN CITY – Suspended Bohol Governor Erico Aumentado has asked the Office of the Ombudsman to reconsider its decision to suspend him for six months.

The request comes as part of an investigation into the construction of a resort at the foot of the Chocolate Hills.

Aumentado filed a motion for retrial seeking the lifting of the precautionary suspension imposed on him.

His lawyers filed an appeal on June 10.

“The purpose of this motion is to protect my rights and ensure that due process principles are upheld,” Aumentado said in a statement.

“The people of Bohol deserve a government that is transparent and fair. I am fully committed to protecting the Chocolate Hills as they are truly a natural wonder,” he added.

He informed the Ombudsman that he had no involvement in the approval of the permits obtained by Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort in Sagbayan town.

Aumentado said the development of the resort began in 2018 when he was still congressman for the second district of Bohol.

He also pointed out that he was neither invited nor attended the meeting of the Protected Area Management Board on July 14, 2022, at which the resolution approving the development of Captain’s Peak Resort was passed.

“I did not receive an invitation and did not attend this meeting. It is not fair to hold me accountable for decisions that were made without my knowledge or involvement,” he said.

Aumentado said there was a lack of strong evidence of his guilt, a prerequisite for issuing a preventive suspension.

“There is no document or law that binds me to the approval or support of the construction, operation and expansion of the resort. My conscience is clear. I have nothing whatsoever to do with this fiasco,” he said.

Aumentado was one of 69 government officials sentenced to a six-month preventive suspension by the anti-corruption agency on May 20.

The Ombudsman said Captain’s Peak was constructed, operated and developed without the required environmental impact assessment, environmental impact certificate and special use agreement for protected areas from the Environmental Management Office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The resort received permits from the Mayor’s Office as well as other business, construction and site permits for the years 2020 to 2024, despite repeated failures to obtain the necessary approvals and clearances from the DENR.

The Chocolate Hills, Bohol’s tourist attraction, consist of 1,776 cone-shaped hills spread across the towns of Bilar, Carmen, Batuan, Sierra Bullones and Sagbayan.

Over the years, at least 500 facilities have been built in the Chocolate Hills Natural Monument.

In 1997, then-President Fidel Ramos declared the Chocolate Hills a natural monument with Presidential Decree No. 1037 to protect the area.