BOHOL Gov. Aris Aumentado called for the lifting of his 6-month preventive suspension order (PSO) without pay in his motion for reconsideration (MR) filed on June 10, 2024 before the office of the Ombudsman.
Aumentado’s motion for reconsideration seeks the immediate lifting of the preventive suspension order and urges the Ombudsman to conduct a fair and thorough preliminary investigation, his press statement said.
“This motion aims to protect my rights and ensure that the principles of due process are upheld. The people of Bohol deserve a government that is transparent and just. I am fully committed to protecting the Chocolate Hills as it truly a natural wonder,” Aumentado said.
Suspended Bohol Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado filed a motion for reconsideration on Tuesday, June 10, 2024, before the Office of the Ombudsman, challenging the preventive suspension order issued against him on May 20, 2024.
The order, which he received on May 28, 2024, suspends him and other respondents for six months amid allegations of grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of service relating to the Captain’s Peak Resort debacle at the Chocolate Hills.
Aumentado expressed his surprise and dismay at the order, saying, “I am genuinely surprised by this preventive suspension order. I categorically deny any involvement in the approval of the construction, operation, and expansion of Captain’s Peak Resort. These charges are baseless and lack any factual foundation.”
In the motion for reconsideration, Aumentado’s legal counsel emphasizes that the Governor had no hand in the approval processes for Captain’s Peak Resort. The motion outlines that the resort’s development commenced in 2018, during Governor Aumentado’s 2nd term as the Congressman of the 2nd District of Bohol, and long before his assumption as governor in June 2022.
Moreover, Aumentado highlighted that he was not invited to nor attended the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) meeting on July 14, 2022, where the resolution endorsing the development of Captain’s Peak Resort was approved.
“I did not receive any invitation for the July 14, 2022 PAMB meeting, and I did not attend this meeting. It is not fair to hold me accountable for decisions made without my knowledge or participation,” Governor Aumentado asserted.
The Governor’s motion also underscores the absence of strong evidence of guilt, a requisite for the issuance of a preventive suspension order.
“There is no document or act that links me to the approval or support of the resort’s construction, operation and expansion. My conscience is clear. I have no hand in that fiasco, whatsoever,” Aumentado explained.
Aumentado’s motion for reconsideration seeks the immediate lifting of the preventive suspension order and urges the Ombudsman to conduct a fair and thorough preliminary investigation.
“This motion aims to protect my rights and ensure that the principles of due process are upheld. The people of Bohol deserve a government that is transparent and just. I am fully committed to protecting the Chocolate Hills as it truly a natural wonder,” Aumentado concluded. (PR)
