THE Office of the Ombudsman has lifted the preventive suspension against 32 Bohol officials amid an investigation into the construction and operation of the controversial Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort inside the Chocolate Hills protected area.
“In the interest of justice and fair play and consonant to this Office’s previous Consolidated Order dated 31 July 2024, the preventive suspension of the following respondents is hereby lifted,” its 25-page consolidated order read.
The Ombudsman lifted the suspension on five mayors, village captains and regional directors of the Department of Agriculture and Philippine National Police.
The provincial and local government officials of Sagbayan town, Bohol were charged with grave misconduct and gross neglect of duty for supposedly tolerating the operation and expansion of the resort.
In May, the Ombudsman placed Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado and 68 other officials under preventive suspension.
In August, Aumentado, however, was reinstated to his post. He maintained his innocence.
Then President Fidel V. Ramos issued Proclamation 1037 on July 1, 1997 and designated the Chocolate Hills as a national geological monument and protected landscape.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “Ombudsman lifts preventive suspension of 32 Bohol officials over Chocolate Hills resort.”
