Nueva Ecija governor suspended one year for quarry permit anomalies

The Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) has placed Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio Umali under for one year without pay after being found guilty of conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and simple misconduct.

Umali was found culpable of irregular issuance of quarry permits without adhering to Environmental Compliance Certificate or ECC from 2014 to 2016. In the complaints filed by Roberto M. Duldulao, it was reported that 205 Commercial Sand and Gravel Permits have been issued without the ECC.

Meanwhile, the governor’s wife, Czarina Umali — who was also a former governor of the province, Wilfredo Pangilinan, Danilo U. Uykieng, Lope O. Cariño Jr., Samuel T. Paragas, and Alilo C. Ensomo were dismissed from the charges.

In May 2024, the now retired Ombudsman Samuel Martires also ordered six-month preventive suspension without pay, immediately executory, against the governor amid the investigation of the case. However, a temporary restraining order issued by the Court of Appeals deterred the implementation of suspension.

Early this year, the suspended official was also condemned over the report released by the Commission on Audit (COA), wherein Nueva Ecija ranked lowest in quarry collection, declaring only around P400,000 in revenue in 2022 and just about P1 million in 2023, despite this being the height of the construction of CLLEX and other infrastructure projects.