WARM WELCOME Mayor Conchita “Che” Toribio delos Reyes of Carmen, Bohol, is welcomed by town officials and employees as she returns to work on Oct. 2, her 64th birthday. She was suspended for four months due to the controversy involving the operation of a resort within the province’s Chocolate Hills. —Leo Udtohan
CARMEN, BOHOL, Philippines — Suspended Mayor Conchita “Che” Toribio delos Reyes of this town received a fitting gift on her birthday on Oct. 2.
Delos Reyes was reinstated on her 64th birthday, four months since she, along with a host of other local officials, including Gov. Aris Aumentado, were suspended over the Chocolate Hills fiasco.
Delos Reyes, accompanied by her husband Kiko and children, was welcomed by employees, friends and well-wishers when she reported for work last Wednesday.
READ: Ombudsman suspends Bohol gov, 68 others over Chocolate Hills fiasco
“To God be the glory. He is the author of all. I didn’t expect the suspension [to be] lifted in time for my birthday,” Delos Reyes told employees.
Toribio, who would be seeking reelection in May next year, was among the eight incumbent mayors of Bohol who were slapped with six-month preventive suspension by the Office of the Ombudsman on May 20, along with Aumentado and other officials.
Aumentado and six of the mayors were reinstated last July 31.
Captain’s Peak controversy
The suspension stemmed from the controversy generated by the presence of The Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort inside the Chocolate Hills grounds, which is a protected area in the town of Sagbayan.
Captain’s Peak was given business, building and locational permit by the town from 2020 to 2024 even if it failed to secure clearances from the Department Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The Office of the Ombudsman ordered the officials of Bohol suspended while they were being investigated for grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service relative to the construction, operation and expansion of The Captain’s Peak.
The Chocolate Hills, the tourism signature of Bohol, are mysterious and topological wonders involving approximately 1,776 hills that look like mounds of chocolates during the dry season when their grass covers turn brown.
The largest concentrations of the hills are in the towns of Bilar, Carmen, Batuan, Sierra Bullones and Sagbayan.
According to DENR, the Chocolate Hills are protected under the Expanded National Integrated Areas Protected System Act or Republic Act 7586, as amended by Republic Act No. 11038.
It is also one of the 17 geosites in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Global Geopark Island province, and the first and only geopark in the Philippines that was declared in 2023.