“Big brother” is what Korea has been to Bohol , pouring multi-million-dollar worth of projects and grants that sustain the provincial government at the leverage in “agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing and knowledge-based industries”. That's how Governor Erico Aumentado described the Republic of Korea in his speech during yesterday's groundbreaking ceremony of the P315-million modern integrated Rice Processing Complex (RPC) in the municipality of Pilar . Bohol is one of the four provinces in the Philippines to receive the grant from Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica) for construction of RPCs after the successful Korea-Philippines modern integrated RPC in Baler, Aurora province in 2006.

The Korean government will also finance the P800-million upgrading of the Malinao Dam, also in Pilar, through its Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF). For Talibon , South Korea 's Biolsystems Co., Ltd. will construct a US$100-million bio-ethanol processing plant in the town's special economic zone. Aumentado said that even with their counterparts, the provincial government and the municipal governments can hardly equal the generosity of the Korean government that would remain hard to repay. During the ribbon-cutting ceremony of Algahol Corporation's office in San Jose , Talibon, next stop after the groundbreaking of Pilar's RPC, Aumentado said the project “will strengthen and enhance the bilateral diplomatic relations of the Korean government and the Republic of the Philippines that is on its 60th year. “ Korea has become the older brother of Bohol and the No. 1 donor of Bohol projects,” the governor said.

Aumentado said it was not just a historic event in Bohol , but a significant opportunity that caters to the province's direction towards becoming the center of the Multi-Industry Cluster (MIC) Program that the Republic of the Philippines and the Korean government had formally agreed to implement. The MIC Program has been intended to facilitate “increased agricultural productivity, emergence of a manufacturing sector in the areas covered, a stronger financial system and more jobs”. Philippines and Korea signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the MIC approach in May this year during the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries. Yap , Aumentado, and Pajo joined Korean Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Joong-Kyung Choi, Korean Senior Economic Adviser to the President and Chairman of the President's Council on National Competitiveness Mansoo Kang, and KOICA resident representative In Kim in the time capsule-laying ceremony after the program.

In his message, the governor expressed gratitude to the Korean dignitaries for facilitating the fund for the RPC and the Malinao Dam upgrading in Pilar and the bio-ethanol investment in Talibon. The governor also announced that the provincial government will soon declare Ambassador Choi as an adopted son of Bohol . Before proceeding to the RPC project site, Aumentado and the Korean dignitaries checked the Malinao Dam. Once upgraded, the governor said, Malinao Dam's present capacity will be doubled to expand its service areas.

Also, prior to the groundbreaking ceremony of the modern integrated RPC in Pilar, Secretary Arthur Yap- -representing the Department of Agriculture- -signed the memorandum of agreement on the implementation of the RPC project with Mayor Wilson Pajo- -representing the municipal government of Pilar, in the presence of BPRE Director Ricardo Cachuela, DA-7 Regional Executive Director Ricardo Oblena, and National Agribusiness Corporation (NABCOR) president Allan Javellana.

PhilRice Executive Director Ronilo Beronio also signed a MOA with the mayors representing local government units for the Give Me Five Project. Some mayors of the neighboring towns also showed up at the gathering to show support- -Jagna Mayor Exuperio Lloren, Loboc Mayor Leon Calipusan, Ubay Mayor Eutiquio Bernales, and Duero Mayor Manuel Tan. After the groundbreaking ceremony, the officials and foreign dignitaries had lunch together at the Pilar Vocational High School nearby the PRC project site, then they proceeded to barangay San Jose , Talibon for the inauguration of Algahol Corporation's office. Algahol Corporation will be the Bohol outlet of South Korea 's BiolSystems Company, Ltd. that will put up a bio-ethanol processing plant in Talibon's special economic zone. Kang said Bohol is the ideal location for the projects and can host the important pillars that will maximize the province's economic potentials. He also cited that the bilateral diplomatic ties of Korea and Philippines , that has already spanned for 60 years now, only confirms the “economic complementarities of the two countries that can produce great partnerships”.

He said the project aims to “increase the income of rice farmers and, at the same time, contribute in achieving rice self-sufficiency in the Philippines by 2013”. This can be done by improving the efficiency of rice production, storage, drying and processing system as a means of reducing post-harvest losses and improving the quality of rice grains for human consumption and seed purposes, as stated in the project profile of the modern integrated RPC. For his part, Yap said the four RPCs to be constructed in Bohol , Davao del Sur, Iloilo and Pangasinan would be instrumental in attaining DA's goal “to further reduce post-harvest losses. “Reduction of post-harvest losses translates to increased rice production, which last year reached an all-time high of 16.82 million tons. These initiatives are envisioned to reduce losses by two million tons,” Yap said.

Farmers' improved access to post-harvest facilities will help “stabilize supply and farm gate prices in the project areas”, Yap added. “In Bohol alone, post-harvest losses represent 14.5 percent (31,711 tons) of the total harvest last year, which reached 218,701 tons or 65 percent of Central Visayas ' production,” the secretary cited. He also said insufficient drying and milling facilities is the main cause of losses. Existing facilities include single-pass and multi-pass rubber roll, kiskisan, cono and micro mill. Some farmers recycle tarpaulins and utilize the road. DA and KOICA will implement the project from 2009-2012 with the grant of US$13 million for the four RPCs.

The project includes a modern rice processing complex with production and training support facilities such as an office and equipment depot, equipment and materials, and involves the dispatch of Korean experts to the Philippines , and training of Philippine officials and personnel in Korea . Mayor Pajo said the groundbreaking ceremony for the RPC project served as a sign of more employment, increased farmer's income that will lead to socio-economic development in his “sleepy town” that he had always wanted to transform into “a place where the people's lives are uplifted”. But it just can't be done overnight. And, it could be impossible without “the assistance of these people (the Korean dignitaries),” he said. Talibon Mayor Juanario Item, for his part, expressed gratitude that, “of all the municipalities”, the Korean government has chosen Talibon to be the site of the multi-million investment on bio-ethanol processing project. In return, the mayor assures to extend utmost hospitality to the Korean dignitaries during their stay in his town.