Raps vs Bohol gov, 3 others dismissed

TAGBILARAN CITY — The Office of the Ombudsman has dismissed for lack of merit the criminal and administrative cases which a lawyer filed against Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado and three other people for buying two-month-old Sasso chicks for P180 each.

Tanodbayan Ma. Merceditas Gutierrez recently approved a five-page resolution dismissing the criminal case for violation of Section 3(g) of Republic Act 3019 as amended or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the administrative case for grave misconduct, as recommended by Sarah Jo Vergara, graft investigation and prosecution officer II of the Ombudsman-Visayas.

The three other respondents are lawyer Antonio Amora, former provincial administrator; engineer Edwin Vallejos, general services officer; and Arnulfo Apalisok, head of the Bohol Poverty Reduction Management Office. Amora has since resigned, while Apalisok has died.

Human rights lawyer Artemio Cabatos who filed the case, claimed that spending P180 for each of 6,000 two-month-old chicks or a total of P1.08 million for a poverty reduction livelihood project was simply too much.

The province procured the chicks from the A.P. Inocencio Farms.