CA upholds reversal of mayor’s suspension

TACLOBAN CITY — The Court of Appeals (CA) Fifth Division has upheld its earlier decision reversing the Ombudsman’s order to suspend former Palompon, Leyte Mayor Ramon C. Oñate.

In a ruling dated 16 February, the appellate court denied the motion for reconsideration filed by former Palompon councilor Henry Encarnacion, affirming the reversal of the Ombudsman’s suspension order.

The case originated from the Ombudsman’s 12 September 2024 decision, which found Oñate guilty of “conduct prejudicial to the interest of service and simple neglect of duty” and imposed a one-year suspension without pay.

Encarnacion initially filed a complaint on 18 October 2023, alleging that Oñate, in conspiracy with other local officials, approved a defective Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) for Palompon. He claimed the CLUP was passed without the required Forest Land Use Plan, allegedly benefiting Oñate’s wife Lourdes Oñate’s business, DBSN Farms, in Barangay San Joaquin.

According to Encarnacion, the barangay was “erroneously classified as an industrial zone,” effectively removing it from the Palompon Watershed Forest Reserve and shielding the farm from potential environmental violations.

In its 12 July 2025 ruling, the CA emphasized that the municipal council and the Leyte Provincial Board are presumed to act regularly in approving the CLUP, and that Encarnacion failed to provide evidence that Oñate influenced the councils’ decisions.

Regarding the motion for reconsideration, the CA stated that Encarnacion “failed to advance any new matter” and that his petition was “a mere reiteration of recycled and previously rejected arguments.”

Encarnacion had also previously filed complaints against Oñate for the alleged misuse of municipal funds for a road project, which the Ombudsman dismissed in March 2023. Encarnacion ran for municipal council in 2022 and 2025 but was unsuccessful in both elections.