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[av_heading heading=’ Ombudsman suspends mayor for coconut farm demolition ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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MANILA – The Office of the Ombudsman slapped Caluya, Antique mayor Genevive Lim-Reyes with a six-month suspension for demolishing a coconut farmland in 2014.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales found Reyes guilty of oppression for “unlawfully” authorizing the clearing operation on a five-hectare coconut farmland in Sitio Poocan in Barangay Tinogboc, Caluya in 2014.
The Ombudsman defined oppression or grave abuse of authority as a “misdemeanor committed by a public officer who, under color of his office, wrongfully inflicts upon any person any bodily harm, imprisonment or other injury.”
The clearing of the coconut farmland in February 2014 was done supposedly for a housing project as relocation site of residents from Sitio Sabang, Barangay Tinogboc.
Later that year, the Commission on Human Rights requested Reyes to stop all relocation, eviction and demolition activities, citing the lack of proper and adequate consultation with the affected residents.
According to the Ombudsman, Reyes failed to present any application from the Philippine Coconut Authority authorizing the cutting of coconut trees or land conversion.
“No sanggunian resolution supporting the housing project was presented as legal basis for respondent’s directive to clear and level the land. This reinforces the conclusion that the clearing operation was made without due process of law,” said the Ombudsman.
The Local Government Code of 1991 promotes a policy of consultation prior to the implementation of certain projects consistent with the spirit of due process, the Ombudsman stressed.
Lim-Reyes could not be reached for comment as of this writing./PN
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