Bohol gov’t workers hold prayer vigil for 69 suspended execs

SUPPORT SYSTEM Employees of the provincial government of Bohol join the prayer vigil on Monday at the capitol grounds after office hours in support of Gov. Erico Aristotle Aumentado and the mayors and village officials who have been suspended for six months over the controversial construction of Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort within the Chocolate Hills in Sagbayan town. —Leo Udtohan

TAGBILARAN CITY, BOHOL, Philippines — Hundreds of employees of the Bohol provincial government, this capital city and towns across the island province held a simultaneous prayer vigil on Monday to show support for the 69 local and environment officials, including Gov. Erico Aristotle Aumentado, who were suspended for six months over the illegal construction of a resort at the foot of the world-famous Chocolate Hills.

At least 200 employees converged at the provincial capitol grounds after clocking out past 5:30 p.m. on Monday for the prayer vigil that was held simultaneously in Tagbilaran and the towns of Ubay, Getafe, Calape, Sikatuna, Buenavista, Cortes, Danao, Balilihan, Dauis, Dimiao, San Miguel, Clarin, Trinidad, Sagbayan, Duero, Candijay, Garcia Hernandez, Sagbayan, Baclayon, Corella, San Isidro, Antequera, Catigbian, Talibon, Jagna, Bien Unido and Lila.

READ: Ombudsman suspends Bohol gov, 68 others over Chocolate Hills fiasco

The prayer vigil, which lasted for an hour, kicked off with a short prayer by acting Gov. Victor Balite, who took over from Aumentado after the governor willingly stepped aside on May 28, the day he received the suspension order.

“We ask for your guidance for our government officials and employees. Bless each of us with clarity and discernment,” Balite said. The group then prayed the rosary before lighting candles erected on the capitol grounds. It culminated by praying the Angelus.

Caught off-guard

Aumentado and 68 other officials, including several town mayors, were slapped with a six-month preventive suspension by the Office of the Ombudsman for allowing a resort to be built in the middle of the famed Chocolate Hills in Sagbayan town.

Most of the suspended officials, including Aumentado, were now preparing to take legal steps to reverse the suspension.

Carmen Mayor Conchita Toribio delos Reyes said her suspension order caught her off-guard since she had no direct involvement in developing the controversial Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort in Sagbayan.

“Of course, I was shocked. A suspension is no joke, especially if it’s for six months,” she said in an interview on June 3.

Delos Reyes, also a businesswoman, said that after she met with her lawyers, they were contemplating filing either a motion for reconsideration or a temporary restraining order to stop the preventive suspension order.

The suspension, she said, served as an eye-opener.

“This is a wake-up call. I need to be more careful this time because the Ombudsman is tough,” Delos Reyes said.

Like Delos Reyes, Mayor Antonino Jumawid of Batuan town was also perplexed as to why they were included in the suspension order, considering the resort was built in another local government unit.

We are innocent

“Innocent people and those who are doing their best to make the community a better place, those who exert effort to build a just and humane society, were being punished for the fault of the few,” he said.

Apart from Delos Reyes and Jumawid, six incumbent mayors were also suspended: Restituto Suarez III of Sagbayan, Elizabeth Pace of Catigbian, Eugeniano Ibarra of Clarin, Norman Palacio of Bilar, Michael Doria of Sierra Bullones and Dionisio Neil Balite of Valencia.

There were also 31 village chiefs and six councilmen who received the same sanction by the Ombudsman.

The suspension stemmed from the construction and operation of Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort within the Chocolate Hills’ protected area in Sagbayan, which drew the ire of national legislators.

The resort was granted business, building and locational permits by the town mayor for the years 2020–2024, despite repeated failures in obtaining permits and clearances from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.