Palompon, Leyte Mayor Ramon Oñate. | contributed photo
ORMOC, Leyte—The Office of the Ombudsman suspended Palompon, Leyte Mayor Ramon Oñate for one year without pay after the Ombudsman found him guilty of conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and simple neglect of duty.
This was based on the 25-page decision, dated September 25, 2024, signed and approved by Ombudsman Samuel Martires.
Henry Encarnacion filed the complaint against the mayor on October 23, 2023.
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‘Political harassment’
In a statement, Oñate described the decision as a political harassment under the guise of “lawful” order.
“The decision dated September 10, 2024 which was approved on September 24, 2024 in OMB-C-A-NOV-23-0114 with the 1st endorsement last September 26, 2024 is nothing but a mere stash of political harassment. It should be noted that during the clarificatory hearing last May 27, 2024 via Zoom platform, the complainant failed to attend the said hearing,” Oñate said in a statement.
He added that there was no objective clarificatory deliberation conducted over the complaint.
The complaint stemmed after the complainant alleged that the mayor abused his position to favor DBSN Farms Agriventure Corporation, a poultry business owned by Oñate and his family.
DBSN Farms allegedly operates partially inside and in the immediate boundary of a protected area, the Palompon Watershed and Forest Reserve.
Aside from Oñate, also included in the case as a respondent were Isagani Arboleda Jaena, and Raoul Toting Bacalla, Terence Seco Osmeña.
In the decision, only the mayor was administratively charged with grave misconduct, serious dishonesty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
The complainant alleged that Oñate converted a Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) lot under Republic Act No. 6657, or the Comprehensive Land Reform Act, without the required conversion order by the Department of Agrarian Reform.
DBSN thereafter erected on this lot, the poultry buildings used in its ongoing chicken breeder farm operations.
Furthermore, the mayor allegedly failed to act on numerous complaints regarding the foul order at his DBSN dressing plant in Albuera, Leyte.