It's been more than seven months after that horrific 7.2 magnitude earthquake that badly hit the province of Bohol leaving untold damages to lives and properties in the province. Sagbayan of which this writer is residing was the epicenter of that catastrophic tremor. Because the resiliency of the Boholanos, they were able to cope up with the tragedy and slowly rising up again from the ruins. One factor in the good fight of rising up from the devastation is the good leadership portrayed by the local government units from the provincial government down to the municipal mayors. The leadership of Governor Edgar Chatto in the province is exemplary especially in the area of rehabilitation and recovery. The presence of the national government is felt throughout the province when the President was visited Bohol several times. The President's marching order is to build back better from the ruins. Governor Chatto adopted from that marching order to build back better for the province of Bohol. If the DSWD has 4Ps, the province has now the program of 4Bs which means to “build back better for Bohol”.

From this principle and program, the action for the provincial and local government in the province is not just to rebuild and reconstruct what has been damaged by the recent earthquake but to rebuild better than what was before. It means, we are going to see a new and better province of Bohol in terms of physical infrastructure; it means new bridges, new buildings, new public markets, new schools, and new city or municipal halls which according to Secretary Abad of the Department of Budget and Management, the rebuilding must be in line with the cultural heritage of Bohol. This is a welcome development for the whole province of Bohol. We are going to see a radical transformation in the physical in terms of infrastructure. However, our people need to be empowered also in the area of socio-economic aspects. Unless and until we incorporate these factors for development where people would be given enough opportunity for a decent living alongside with the blessings of prosperity and livelihood, this infrastructural development in the province would be of little value to them. It is high time for the leadership in the province and in various municipalities to work together with all stakeholders including the religious sectors for the take-off of the province in all areas and aspects of development.

Progressing in the physical-economic aspect without the moral and spiritual can be more devastating and more damaging to the people than the destruction left by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake. Proof to this, is the gradual decline and fall of western culture. In Europe and in the United States of America, we could see their advanced development in the physical but their spiritual and moral heritage is fast deteriorating. It is when we set aside God at the center of our lives and pursue material prosperity apart from Him that we begin to disintegrate in the spirit. The Lord Jesus in the gospel says, “What does it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world but lost his own souls in hell”? (Matthew 16:26). I should say nothing! Christ is telling us to balance in everything. Our obsession and focus would not just be the material things of this world but the things of God. The apostle Paul has similar principle when he said, “Though our outward physical being is perishing yet our inward being is renewed day by day” (2Corinthians 4:16). Establishing the principle of balance in everything is a sound philosophy a man or woman possesses.

Building back better for the province of Bohol is a good start to do. And this should include all aspects of human life. Rising up again from the ruins is not just getting up for the sake of moving on in our lives but getting up better which means there should real change from the inside out of the lives of all Boholanos. SOLI DEO GLORIA!