The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Office of the Ombudsman said they stand by the six-month preventive suspension against Nueva Ecija Governor Aurelio Umali despite a restraining order.
The restraining order was filed on May 22 by the Court of Appeals thru its 11th Division Justices Mary Charlene Hernandez-Azura and Florencio M. Mamauag, Jr.
Umali, his wife and ex-Nueva Ecija Governor Czarina Umali and Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer Wilfredo Pangilinan were suspended over the alleged issuance of 205 permits for sand and gravel extraction in the province without the requisite Environmental Compliance Certificate or ECC.
Earlier, the House of Representatives, thru House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, also conducted hearings on the illegal quarrying operations in Nueva Ecija allegedly sanctioned by its provincial government.
Based on the compliance report by DILG Assistant Regional Director Jay E. Timbreza, the Order for Preventive Suspension by the Office of the Ombudsman was received by the DILG-Central Office on May 14.
The first attempt to serve the suspension by the DILG occurred in the afternoon of May 21. It was then twice served in the morning of May 22 in the Office of the Provincial Governor in Cabanatuan as well as in the New Provincial Capitol in Palayan City.
As the governor was supposedly on leave, the Order for Preventive Suspension was served to the capitol’s officials-in-charge who refused the same.
In the resolution issued by the Court of Appeals, Justice Mary Charlene Hernandez-Azura and Justice Florencio Mamauag Jr. granted Umali’s application for TRO partly on the basis of the indispensability of Umali’s office in connection with the delivery of services to his constituents.