Leyte mayor face raps for ‘anomalous’ land use

MANILA, Philippines — A municipal mayor in Leyte has been charged with criminal and administrative complaints along with three others in connection with an allegedly anomalous land use plan.

The complaints against Mayor Ramon Oñate of Palompon town and his co-accused were filed before the Office of the Ombudsman by a resident named Henry Encarnacion.

The complainant said that Oñate along with former municipal planner Isagani Jaena, forest ranger Terence Osmeña and environment resource officer Raoul Bacalla initiated the re-zoning of a property in favor of the mayor and his family.

Encarnacion said that in 2017, the officials updated the municipal land use plan without the approval of the forest land use authority.

The plan involved a property in Barangay San Joaquin, which the respondents reportedly classified as an industrial zone to accommodate Oñate’s business interest.

“By misrepresenting the property as located in an industrial zone, Oñate and his co-accused exhibited partiality and extended undue benefit to the Zachary Farms and DBSN Breeder Farms, the complaint read.

Encarnacion said the case was criminal in nature due to alleged violation of the Revised Forestry Code, Expanded NIPAS Act, Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act as well as the Water Code of the Philippines.

The administrative charges constitute acts of dishonesty, grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.

Encarnacion alleged that Oñate’s wife, who reportedly owns DBSN Farms and Agriventures, was granted an environmental compliance certificate for her business operation in the questioned property.

The property was later titled and even used as collateral for a loan obtained from the Land Bank of the Philippines, Encarnacion alleged. The loan was reportedly used to expand the business and infrastructure on the property.