Ombudsman suspends Nueva Ecija Governor Aurelio Umali

The Ombudsman has placed Nueva Ecija Governor Aurelio Umali under a precautionary suspension following the administrative complaint filed against him for allegedly issuing illegal quarry permits in the province.

Umali’s suspension is the latest in a series of suspensions of sitting elected officials by the Ombudsman, who previously suspended Cebu Mayor Michael Rama and other local officials.

“This office finds sufficient grounds for the preventive suspension of Governor Aurelio M. Umali as there is strong evidence of his guilt. The allegations against him involve gross misconduct and gross negligence in the performance of his duties which could justify his removal from service,” the Ombudsman said in a five-page resolution.

Umali, his wife, former Governor Czarina Umali, and Natural Resources Commissioner Wilfredo M. Pangilinan are facing administrative complaints for grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty and conduct detrimental to service under the Public Service Administrative Cases Ordinance of 2017.

The incumbent governor, elected in 2019, is in his second term as governor of Nueva Ecija.

He replaced his wife, who served a term as governor starting in 2016.

The complaint was filed by one Roberto Duldulao after congressional investigations revealed that the defendants allegedly abused their discretion by issuing a total of 205 quarry permits for the extraction of sand and gravel to “unqualified permit holders” who failed to submit the mandatory Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Based on the report of the House of Representatives Committee on Good Governance and Public Accountability, the Umali couple required the submission of Local Environmental Impact Certificates (LECCs) instead of ECCs as required by law as a precondition for the granting and issuance of several quarry permits.

The Ombudsman’s investigators cited the House committee’s report, which said adopting LECCs instead of ECCs was “a clear circumvention of the law.”

“On the other hand, PENRO Wilfredo M. Pangilinan conspired with spouse Umali and joined them in committing the unlawful act by continuing to make recommendations for the approval of quarry permits using the LECC only,” the Ombudsman’s order said.

Investigators from the Anti-Corruption Agency also concluded that the defendants had failed to fulfill their obligation to return the excise taxes collected by the province from the holders of quarry permits to the local authorities under whose jurisdiction the quarries are located.

“After the provincial government of Nueva Ecija collected taxes on the sand and gravel mined, the shares of the affected local governments in these taxes were not released,” the Ombudsman stressed.

In justifying Umali’s suspension, the Ombudsman stated that documents and evidence had to be secured during the investigation into the cases “in order to prevent him from committing further malpractice and/or abuse of office”.

Earlier, the Ombudsman had suspended Mayor Michael Rama and seven other Cebu City officials over alleged nonpayment of salaries of several city hall employees.

Rama and the seven other officials – city administrator and lawyer Collin Rossell, his wife Maria Theresa Rossell, who heads the city treasurer’s office, Francis May Jacaban, Angelique Cabugao, Jay-Ar Pescante, Lester Joey Beniga and Nelyn Sanrojo – were suspended for six months.

In a 10-page resolution, Ombudsman Samuel Martires stated that there were sufficient grounds to suspend the mayor as a precautionary measure, including serious misconduct, conduct unbecoming a public official and conduct detrimental to the mayor’s welfare.