CRIMINAL and administrative complaints have been filed before the Office of the Ombudsman against incumbent Palompon, Leyte Mayor Ramon Oñate and three other municipal officials for the alleged unlawful alteration of land zoning rules to allow commercial activities to encroach into a watershed reserve.
In a 52-page complaint, Barangay San Miguel, Palompon resident Henry Encarnacion sought indictment of the respondents for graft and violations of the Revised Forestry Code (Presidential Decree No. 705), the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS Law or RA 11038), the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (RA 8435), and the Water Code of the Philippines (PD No. 1067).
On top of the criminal complaints, he also charged the local government officials with serious dishonesty, grave misconduct, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
Named Oñate’s co-respondents were former municipal planning and development officer (MPDO) Isagani Jaena, former municipal environment and resource officer (MENRO) Raoul Bacalla, and former forest ranger Terence Osmeña.
Encarnacion said the respondents connived among themselves to pass a defective Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) in 2017 despite the absence of a required Forest Land Use Plan.
The new CLUP reportedly covered 22 hectares of Barangay San Joaquin that were previously considered timberland and part of the Palompon Watershed Forest Reserve (PWFR) and reclassified it as part of an industrial zone.
He said the biggest beneficiary of the move was the DBSN Farms and Agriventures Corp. owned by the mayor’s family.
The complainant said DBSN Farms started a 20.7-hectare poultry breeder farm that was subsequently found by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) — Pollution Adjudication Board and the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) — Region 8 to have violated anti-pollution laws.
Encarnacion said the poultry farm has been fined hundreds of thousands of pesos for dumping sludge and sewage and discharging wastewater pollutants without a permit from the DENR.
