Next summer will be different in Loon when Catagbacan port opens to international cruise ships. First District Rep. Edgar Chatto recently brought this good news. This means a big boost to Bohol economy, especially to the tourism industry, since the cruise industry is a fast-growing sector of global tourism, according to the congressman who chairs the House Tourism Committee and in whose district the port is located. Chatto got the timetable of the completion of the project's first phase in a recent meeting with Philippine Ports Authority (PPA)–Bohol Head Emmanuel Boholano, Engineering Services Division Head Richard Elopre and technical people from PPA-Manila.

The PPA Facilities Construction and Maintenance Department expects the P80-million cruise ship berth, the initial major stage of the project, to be finished in April next year and will be opened to international luxury vessels. The Sangguniang Bayan of Loon recently passed a resolution thanking Chatto for securing the fund through PPA together with Governor Erico Aumentado and the two other Bohol congressmen for the conversion of the once idle inter-island port into an international rendezvous. Port officials identified the project contractor as the WTG Construction and Development Corporation. The notice to proceed was issued early last month. Chatto had discussed the project with Ambassador Hilario Davide Jr.- -the permanent Philippine representative to the United Nations, and New York-based tourism attaché Emma Ruth Yulo-Kitiyakara in a meeting last month in the United States . In the meeting, Kitiyakara briefed Chatto about the inquiries from the world cruise industry on Bohol 's “readiness.” Both the Department of Tourism (DOT) and Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) endorsed the project based on its significance to Philippine tourism in general, with the recent boost from the signing into law of the Tourism Act of 2009 by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last May 12 in Cebu.

The landmark legislation, hailed as an engine for national growth, was principally authored by Chatto himself in the House of Representatives and, in the Senate, by Sen. Richard Gordon. During the signing ceremony for the law, Federation of Tourism Industries of the Philippines (PTIF) president Dading Clemente, who was also instrumental to the crafting of the Loon cruise ship plan, bared the cruise liners' preference on Bohol to be their port of call. The PPA head confirmed this during a meeting with Chatto at the latter's residence here. Once completed next year, the cruise ship berth will be expanded according to the vision for Bohol as the country's new cruise ship destination, thereby helping carry out the development masterplan for the Boholanos. On this, Chatto encouraged the local government units, especially Loon, to develop holistic tourism programs and activities with emphasis on eco-cultural tourism while pushing for more employment, livelihood and enhancement of agriculture. (Ven rebo Arigo)