Long been the envy of his peers, Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado proved once more that he was one step ahead of his counterparts, when it comes to pushing the right button to produce foreign financial assistance. The Bohol governor was known of his resourcefulness in international funding institutions like the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) and lately the Korean International Cooperation Agency. These internationals agencies enabled Aumentado to generate funds either as soft loans or outright grants for his Bohol mega projects. .
Now, the industrious governor has trained his sights to Australia , and guess what he got? P200 million in funding support to finance the rehabilitation of Bohol provincial roads. According to the governor, Australia is Bohol 's No. 1 Official Development Assistance (ODA) funder for quite a time now. He gave this observation after he signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the Provincial Road Management Facility (PRMF) that, including consultancy services, will run to some P70 million a year for the next five years or a total of P350 million in grant. On his first visit to Bohol, Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Rod Smith and Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Austere Panadero signed the agreement with Aumentado to improve provincial roads here in rites held at the Dagohoy Hall of the Bohol Tropics Resort. Up for first-salvo soil stabilization are the San Isidro-Libertad (Tubigon) Road; San Isidro-Catigbian via Caimbang Road that passes by the Catigbian District Hospital and the town's public market, and the Mahayag (San Miguel)-Danao Road that passes through a steep ridge locally called the buko-buko sa anay or an emaciated sow's spine.
Smith said infrastructure plays a key role in the economic growth and development of a place, hence his government's – through the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) – penchant for rehabilitation and improvement of roads. He said improved farm-to-market roads reduce travel time, connects rural areas to urban centers, and because of easier travel – promotes tourism. Aumentado said these were exactly the criteria followed in selecting the provincial roads for improvement. San Isidro is a small agricultural interior town. After the project, it will be better linked to the coastal town of Tubigon that is nearer to Cebu , the region's center, than the capital, Tagbilaran City is. He said developing the road to Catigbian also provides San Isidro with an alternate and shorter route to Tagbilaran.
Meanwhile, historic Danao is the adventure capital of Bohol . It offers adventure tours and activities like riding the zip line, trekking, rapelling, kayaking and caving in the lair of local hero Francisco Sendrijas who took the nomme de guerre of Dagohoy. Dagohoy had led the longest successful revolt – 85 years – against dominion by the Spaniards. Legend goes that he used the amulet of the breeze or dagon sa hoyohoy, hence, Dagohoy – to escape from pursuers. Very light-footed, he is said to know all the nooks and crannies and therefore hideouts in the river, the caves and tree hollows, among others, that ensured his escape from friars, the Spanish soldiers and their minions. Capitalizing on the rich history and life story of Dagohoy, the town invested in the zip line ride that has breached the P1-million mark in income after only a few months of operation – and parallel eco-adventure activities. Aumentado highly recommends Danao's adventure tourism, hence, the inclusion of one of the town's access road in the Southern Philippines Road Improvement Project of the PRMF. The project, he said, eases the pressure on the Provincial Engineer's Office that is tasked to maintain in good condition the over 935 kilometers of provincial roads.
|
