Nueva Ecija vice governor to take over after Ombudsman suspends Gov. Umali

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla ordered Nueva Ecija Vice Governor Gil Raymond Umali to temporarily take over the gubernatorial post after his brother Aurelio Umali was suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman for alleged illegal issuance of quarry permits. 

This was after the DILG had formally suspended Aurelio, with the Provincial Capitol of Nueva Ecija receiving the order on September 8. 

“The Department received an endorsement from the Office of the Ombudsman informing us of their consolidated Decision dated June 19, 2025, in OMB-C-A-APR-24-009 entitled ‘Robert M. Duldulao vs Aurelio M. Umali, et al.’ and OMB-C-A-OCT-24-0095 entitled ‘Carmelo D. Ginez, et al. vs Aurelio M. Umali, et al.’, meting upon you the penalty of one year suspension from the service,” the DILG order said. 

The suspended Nueva Ecija governor tried to file a sick leave from August 13 to 29, but the DILG said it did not grant the request as the period is already covered by the one-year suspension without pay by the Ombudsman. 

The Ombudsman earlier said it found evidence indicating that Umali is guilty of misconduct, due to the alleged illegal issuance of 205 quarrying permits without the required certificates from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). 

Aurelio filed then a motion for reconsideration as “the case does not involve any criminal charge nor any issue of corruption, theft, or wrongdoing,”

Citing the Ombudsman’s decision, the DILG said that Aurelio was found to have committed grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the interest of the service. 

“Due to alleged negligence on the part of Umali, the Nueva Ecija quarry tax collection has reportedly been off-target. According to a report released by the Commission on Audit (CoA), the province reported an income of only P400,000 from quarry collections in 2022, and just P1 million in 2023,” the DILG said in a statement Thursday. 

With Gil Raymond taking over his brother’s post, the DILG said that Sangguniang Panlalawigan senior board member Eduardo Jose Joson will temporarily serve as Nueva Ecija’s vice governor.  — Vince Angelo Ferreras/RF, GMA Integrated News