Former Bohol Governor Atty. Art Yap has issued a statement criticizing the current provincial government led by Governor Aris Aumentado and the local newspaper Bohol Chronicle for allegedly persecuting him and spreading false information about a plunder case filed against him.Yap, who served as governor of Bohol from 2019 to 2022, said he was not surprised by the move of the Aumentado administration to create a body called OGAR (Office of the Governor’s Anti-Corruption Representative) to investigate him for alleged corruption and misuse of public funds during his term.He claimed that the Aumentado government was not interested in uplifting the lives of the Boholanos, but rather in destroying his name and reputation to prevent him from ever returning to serve Bohol and to satisfy the “bitter lust for revenge” of some people.He also accused the Bohol Chronicle, which he described as an “extension of the Provincial Government”, of violating his civil rights by publishing a headline that he had been charged with plunder, even though no case had been filed against him yet.He said the newspaper was operating under the protection of the Constitution, but was trampling on his right to be heard, to due process, and to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.”No case has as yet been filed against me and already the Bohol Chronicle, an extension of the Provincial Government, trumpets I have been charged with plunder. The Bohol Chronicle operates under the protection of the Constitution and yet, it does so by trampling on my civil rights: my right to be heard, to due process, and to be presumed innocent until proven guilty,” Yap said in his statement.Yap also expressed his disappointment with the performance of the Aumentado government, saying that it had failed to continue and improve the projects and programs that he had initiated during his term.He cited examples such as rice production and distribution, barangay development, youth and elderly welfare, water supply, health care, housing, anti-drug campaign, and animal disease prevention.He said these projects had made Bohol “The Most Competitive Province in Central Visayas” for two years, but were now under attack by the Aumentado government.He lamented that instead of providing meaningful projects for the people, the Aumentado government was focusing on social media and sound-bites, which he said was an insult to the Boholanos.”We elect leaders so they can do their best. The Aumentado Government instead, is doing its worst. Along the way it is insulting the people. Instead of meaningful projects, they are focusing on Facebook and sound-bites: apparently, in their eyes, that is all the Bolanon is worth,” Yap said.Yap vowed to defend himself against the baseless accusations and urged the people to “weep for Bohol” for what he called the dismal state of affairs in the province under the Aumentado administration.