Ombudsman lifts suspension of 32 Bohol officials over Chocolate Hills resort

The Office of the Ombudsman has lifted the preventive suspension it imposed against 32 officials in Bohol amid investigation into the controversial resort inside the Chocolate Hills protected area in.

In a 25-page consolidated order dated July 31, the Ombudsman lifted the suspension on five mayors, barangay captains, and the regional directors of the Department of Agriculture and Philippine National Police.

“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,” it said. 

In May, the Ombudsman placed Bohol Governor Erico Aumentado and 68 other officials under preventive suspension.

Aumentado was reinstated to his post in August. He said the Ombudsman’s decision proved his innocence and reaffirmed his committment to serving the people of Bohol.

Proclamation 1037, which was issued by the late President Fidel Ramos on July 1, 1997, designated the Chocolate Hills as a National Geological Monument and Protected Landscape.—AOL, GMA Integrated News