Pres. GMA to inaugurate BCRIP2 Tagbilaran-Lila section June 5

PREPARATIONS shift to high gear as Bohol braces for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's visit on June 5 – her second of at least three this year. Gov. Erico Aumentado said President Arroyo will inaugurate the newly concreted Tagbilaran City to Lila section of the Bohol Circumferential Road Improvement Project Phase 2 (BCRIP 2), a billion-peso project undertaken by the Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co., Ltd. of Korea with Official Development Assistance (ODA) from Japan through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

Aumentado had shepherded the BCRIP since its first phase – and other projects – through the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and through the pledging session in Tokyo , Japan when he was still congressman of Bohol 's 2nd district, to ensure its funding from Official Development Assistance through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). After a drive-through inauguration, the President and her party will proceed to the Lila gymnasium where Public Works and Highways Sec. Hermogenes Ebdane will brief her on the project. Expected at the program are Japanese Ambassador Ryuichiro Yamazaki, top officials from Hanjin led by Dir. Jeong Sup Shim, Pacific Consultants International (PCI) led by Junichiro Motoyama, other Malacañang officials and guests.

As in other provincial sorties, she and other guests will be welcomed by the host mayor – Engr. Telesforo Balagosa, in this case. Aumentado will introduce the President who will sign into law within her speech the bill declaring the 36-kilometer Panglao Circumferential Road and Center Line into a national highway. As such, the road will also qualify for ODA. Aumentado is lining up the Panglao Circumferential Road and Center Line, the Tagbilaran Bypass, Baclayon Bypass and the coastal road from Ubay to Mabini, Anda, Cogtong in Candijay and Guindulman towns under BCRIP Phase 3. The President is expected to depart back for Tagbilaran and back to Malacañang by 3 p.m.

Anniversary

The President's other purpose in going to Bohol on June 5 however is to attend the governor's and his wife Peregrina's Ruby Wedding Anniversary renewal of vows at the St. Joseph 's Cathedral in Tagbilaran City. The President and First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo will stand as the Aumentados' lone pair of principal sponsors. As such, wedding guests are requested to assemble already in the cathedral before 9 a.m. , and to proceed immediately to the Sandugo Grand Ballroom of the Bohol Tropics Resort Club for the reception while the after-ceremony picture taking goes on. After lunch, she will proceed to Lila while her husband is expected to visit the cataract scraping, denture fitting and major operations conducted by the First Gentleman Mike Arroyo Foundation at the Gov. Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital, the Governor's Mansion Conference Room and the Bohol Cultural Center .

3rd visit

Undersecretary Marilou Frostrom of the Office for Regional Concerns (ORC) of the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) has conducted an ocular inspection Wednesday of the Lila gym, the cathedral, the renovated library building that will be converted into a museum to house the late lone Boholano President Carlos P. Garcia's memorabilia and Bohol Tropics. With Aumentado as guide, she also inspected the Bayongan Dam and canals of the Bohol Irrigation Project Stage 2 (BHIP 2) that the President is also expected to inaugurate on July 23. The President will be the guest of honor during the Bohol Day activities on July 22. There will be a convocation at the Bohol Cultural Center in the morning wherein the governor will again give Sikatuna Awards and plaques of recognition to outstanding Boholanos. An economic forum at Bohol Tropics is slated in the afternoon.

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