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Monday, July 31, 2006
Trader wants Panglao mayor cited in contempt over project
THE appellate court may have stopped his preventive suspension but it did not facilitate peace for Mayor Doloreich Dumaluan of Panglao, Bohol.
Cerino Hormachuelos, the businessman who filed the complaint that led to the foiled suspension, is now asking Dumaluan be cited in contempt “for making a gullible fool” out of the anti-graft office.
In a supplemental affidavit submitted last week, Hormachuelos accused the mayor of perjury and falsification for stating in his counter-affidavit that he was issued an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for a resort he built in Panglao.
He submitted a certification from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the agency that issues ECCs, showing that the mayor was not given one.
The certification, dated July 18, was signed by Alan Aranguez, the DENR officer-in-charge, and stated that Dumaluan did not even apply for ECC.
No ECC
“These structures, built without an (ECC), are considered violative of the pertinent Rules and Regulations of PD (Presidential Decree) 1586, otherwise known as the Philippine EIS System,” the certification read.
In a previous pleading, Hormachuelos asked Dumaluan be removed from office for “gross misconduct and abuse of authority.”
The Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas earlier ordered Dumaluan’s preventive suspension. He stands charged with allegedly constructing a 28-room resort on public land.
Graft Investigator Alvin Butch Cañares, in an order dated Dec. 8, 2005 and signed by Deputy Ombudsman Primo Miro, imposed the suspension order.
Based on the complaint, Dumaluan built a resort within a public easement area in Panglao.
Clearances
In his counter-affidavit, he claimed that he was given the necessary clearances, including an ECC, after submitting an environmental impact study.
And despite letters sent to him by Romeo Teruel of the Panglao Island Tourism Estate, the Provincial Legal Office, and the Office of the Governor, the development continued.
Cañares’ resolution said the allegations are “serious enough” to warrant a consideration of the request of the complainants for the preventive suspension, as Dumaluan chose to disregard two letters from the Office of the Governor.
“(Dumaluan’s) continued stay in office may prejudice the investigation of this administrative complaint, considering the position he occupies,” he said. (KNR)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (July 31, 2006 issue)
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