CEBU CITY, May 2 -- Bohol province Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado on Thursday ordered his constituents to avoid open burning to prevent incidents of grassfires amid hot weather conditions.

Aumentado reiterated his order, signed on April 18, in response to the increasing number of grassfire incidents in the province, the latest of which was the wildfire that hit two mounds of the famous Chocolate Hills in the Carmen town side.

"The Bohol Provincial Environment Management Office has monitored rampant open burning of solid waste across the province, despite the clear prohibition under Republic Act 9003, known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000," the governor said in his order.

Aumentado said communities will be monit...