Over Chocolate Hills anomaly: 17 execs sacked

CEBU, Philippines —  Seventeen government officials, including a town mayor and regional environment executives, have been dismissed from the service by the Office of the Ombudsman for their roles in the unauthorized construction and operation of a private resort within the protected Chocolate Hills Natural Monument (CHNM) in Sagbayan, Bohol.

In a decision dated March 12, 2025, signed by Ombudsman Samuel Martires but released only recently, the anti-graft body found the officials guilty of grave misconduct and gross neglect of duty for issuing permits and clearances despite the resort’s failure to secure mandatory environmental documents, including an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC), and Special Use Agreement in Protected Areas (SAPA).

Sagbayan Mayor Restituto Suarez III, zoning officer Maximo Lomosbog, and building official Alan Dinoy were meted the maximum penalty of dismissal from government service. Also ordered dismissed were 14 officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-7 led by regional executive director Paquito Melicor.

The others are Jose Douglas Berenguel, Ceferino Tajo, Betsy Jumamoy, Lito Bonajos, Maria Fe Jala, Rogaciana Caduyac, Adelo Mangaya-ay, Tito Ancog, Paulino Amodia, Laurentino A. Bautista, Lorna Fernandez, Ariel N. Rica, and Gilbert Gonzales—most of them members of the technical working group of the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB)-7.

The penalty also includes cancellation of eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits (except accrued leave credits), and perpetual disqualification from reemployment in government service.

The dismissal order follows a series of administrative actions taken by the Ombudsman after the operation of a private resort within the Chocolate Hills, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was exposed on social media. The Freeman earlier ran a three-part special report on the illegal occupation, which triggered the investigation.

On May 22, 2024, a preventive suspension was imposed on Bohol Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado and 68 other local officials as part of the ongoing probe into the resort’s construction. The suspension was later lifted.

Aumentado was spared administrative liability but was reprimanded, along with other members of the PAMB executive committee, for failing to attend meetings. The reprimanded officials include Atty. Antonino M. Jumawid, Elizabeth M. Pace, Virgilio I. Lurot, Allen Ray Piezas, Eugeniano E. Ibarra, Norman Palacio, Simplicio C. Maestrado, Michael Doria, and Dionicio Neil Balite.

Aumentado, in a Facebook post, acknowledged the Ombudsman’s decision.

Mayor Suarez, for his part, said his approval of the resort’s permits was based on endorsements from subordinate offices. He maintained that before March 13, 2024, his office had received no report or notice of violations from the DENR or the Protected Area Management Office (PAMO).

He stressed that the ECC was not listed among the requirements for business permit renewal under existing municipal ordinances, and that his role was ministerial once the application passed technical review. He added that he had no participation in the 2018 CHNM PAMB resolution that initially endorsed the resort or in the first issuance of permits in 2019.

As for the 2022 PAMB resolution that allowed the resort’s expansion, Suarez said it was prepared and reviewed by DENR officials and did not explicitly reiterate the ECC requirement—leading him to assume compliance had been met.

Meanwhile, the Ombudsman recommended the criminal prosecution of Aumentado along with former Bohol governors Rene Relampagos and Arthur Yap, and several municipal and barangay officials, for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act 3019).

“Ubos sa kriminal nga aspeto, ang Office of the Ombudsman nimando sa pagpasaka og kasong kriminal nga kalapasan sa Section 3(e) ug Section 3(j) sa R.A. 3019, batok kanako, duha ka kanhi gobernador, ug uban pang mga respondents. Hingpit ako sa akong baroganan nga wala ako nakalapas sa bisan unsang balaod sa ani nga kaso,” Aumentado posted on Facebook.

He said he and other respondents are preparing a motion for reconsideration, asserting his belief that he did not violate any laws. He recalled that upon learning of the Captain’s Peak controversy in 2023, he immediately ordered an investigation.

“Malaumon ko nga tukion pag-usab sa Ombudsman ang maong resolusyon ug nga ako, uban sa uban nga wala malambigit sa kaso, malimpyohan sa bisan unsang kasaypanan,” he added.

The Ombudsman stressed that the resort’s operation caused the defacement and mutilation of the Chocolate Hills, in violation of the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act and the Expanded NIPAS Act.

The Captain’s Peak Resort controversy was first brought to light by The Freeman through an investigative report, which revealed the absence of key environmental protections and raised questions on the legality of the resort’s expansion. This prompted Aumentado and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Committee on Environment to launch a formal probe in 2023, leading to the resort’s temporary closure and further inquiries by the DENR and PAMB. (CEBU NEWS)