Gov. Edgar Chatto has secured additional P91.055 million thru the infrastructure expenditure of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) next year to complete the concreting of the essential Balilihan-Hanopol-Batuan road. DPWH Sec. Rogelio Singson wrote to the governor that the fund he requested has been included in the 2014 Infrastructure Program that is based on the National Expenditure Program for DPWH. The 18.329-kilometer road is a vital arterial link that contributes directly to the eco-tourism and agri-industry development in the province while its impact on the peace and order thrust cannot be overstated. An area in the interior of the province traversed by the road used to be a hotbed of insurgency until the successful peace and development effort combating the problem. Chatto took the approval of his fund request as another reaffirmation of the sincerity of the commitment of Pres. Benigno S. Aquino III to the sustainable development of Bohol and inclusive economic growth of the Boholanos.

The new fund will continue the concrete upgrading of the Batuan side of the road while works on the Balilihan section keep going after the president then released a big initial of P146 million for the project. Aquino’s manifest commitment to the full improvement of the highly-important highway was one of the highlights of his presidential visit to Bohol last year. In Congress then, Chatto himself principally authored the law nationalizing the Balilihan-Hanopol-Batuan road which is the shortest access from the international cruise ship port in Catagbacan, Loon to what is acclaimed as Bohol’s unequalled part in the planet’s evolution and worthiest contribution to world tourism, the wondrous Chocolate Hills in Carmen. A strategically vital inter-municipal link, the road also shortens the connection of interior towns to the province’s capital, Tagbilaran City. Chatto secured the additional P91.055 million after he wrote to the president thru Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Sec. Florencio Abad while calling the attention of the DPWH secretary. Abad then endorsed the governor’s letter with a signed handwritten note on it asking Singson and Department of Tourism (DOT) Sec. Ramon Jimenez to grant Chatto’s request. The province has at the same time worked, among many others, for the upgrading of the equally essential road linking Sierra Bullones, Pilar and Alicia.

IMPACTS

Once completed, the impacts of a concreted Balilihan-Hanopol-Batuan road on the economic well-being of the areas and populace it directly serves would be more than imaginable. The road facilitates the easy transport and marketing of agricultural products, thereby hastening agri-industrialization. It is essential to the desired mobility support and target productivity of the planned coconut agro-industry hub in Bohol as a Central Visayas pilot province of the Philippine Rural Development Program aided by the World Bank and national government. As a tourism highway, the road cuts travel time to established destinations such as the Chocolate Hills and the new Makapiko Rapids, an emerging spot for river rafting and tubing, as well as the lush greenery in the area that makes it ideal for trekking and related eco-adventures. Among the areas served by the road, the towns surrounding the Abatan River have established a river cruise that showcases eco-cultural tourism.

According to the Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCACCI), Visayas can potentially grow into a tiger economy under an integrated ASEAN region. The shift in world economic center to Asia is foreseen to cause unprecedented chances for the Visayas area industry players to make or extend markets for their tourism, fisheries and agriculture products. CACCI president Ambassador Benedicto Yujuico said the ASEAN economic integration and trade pacts with China and other Asian neighbors could give core products in the Visayas wide access to customers with rising purchasing power. These core products include those of tourism in Aklan and Bohol. (Ven rebo Arigo)