Guv gives infra aid to coastal, upland towns

GOV. Erico B. Aumentado last week gave P400,000 each to Dagohoy and Getafe towns as provincial counterparts to their respective infrastructure projects. “I came here to redeem my [election campaign] promise,” Aumentado told the Dagohoy residents who were celebrating Wednesday their 50th Foundation Day, and the islanders of Banacon in Getafe the following day. He gave Dagohoy Mayor Sofronio Apat a check P400,000-check for the improvement of the wet market section of the land-locked town's public market. He also announced the inclusion of the P23-million Dagohoy waterworks system in the Belgian Integrated Agrarian Reform Support Program (BIARSP). The Belgian government will give as a grant P6 million for the waterworks project to benefit all 15 barangays of Dagohoy.

The provincial government and Rep. Roberto Cajes of Bohol 's 2nd District will put up P2 million each as their respective counterparts while Aumentado assisted Apat in availing of a P15-million loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) as the town's own counterpart. At a breakfast meeting Friday at Aumentado's residence, LBP-Tagbilaran Branch Manager Felix Tabigue approved in principle Dagohoy's loan – the paperwork will follow. Meanwhile, following a speedboat ride through Paden's Highway – one of the eight “roads” that lead to a rotunda in the mangrove plantation of Banacon, Aumentado turned over to Barangay Captain Peregrino de la Cerna two checks – P200,000 for the construction of a ramp for the barangay fish port and P200,000 for the construction of a bamboo boardwalk.

The boardwalk will allow tourists to inspect and feast their eyes on the lush greenery of the mangrove and other life forms without getting wet be it high tide or low tide. To note, most tourists and visitors go to the sea to take a dip or swim. Some however opt to stay dry in order to meet later appointments. Besides, walking will take a shorter time compared to wading. Lawyer Anos Fonacier of the Bohol Beach Club and the Cebu Tambuli Resort fame came with the group. He was profuse with his congratulations for the governor for giving attention to Bohol 's northern corridor that also has lots of tourism potential.

Provincial Board (PB) members Cariso Camacho, Ma. Fe Camacho-Lejos and Ester Corazon Galbreath who chairs the Committee on Tourism, Getafe Mayor Theresa P.M. Camacho, associate editor Peter Dejaresco of The Bohol Chronicle and editor-publisher Ciriaco “BG” Guingguing of The Bohol Sunday Post also formed part of the governor's party. Aumentado has invited them and other tourism stakeholders to the presentation of the Bohol Tourism Master Plan by the Pacific Consultants International (PCI) on July 7. Under the plan, Bohol 's towns will be clustered into six groups – Getafe and adjacent towns among them. PB member Cariso Camacho, former Getafe mayor, said Banacon's mangrove plantation is now approximately 1,000 hectares. Nearby islets have started planting also, so that he estimates the total area in Getafe planted to mangrove at around 1,700 hectares already.

Cebu-Bohol Friendship Highway

From Banacon, the group proceeded to the resort islet of Pandanon where many Japanese tourists coming in from Cebu were also enjoying the fresh breeze, clear and unpolluted water and powdery white sand. Pandanon is located at the southern end of the Danajon Double Barrier Reef – the only such reef in Asia . The other two double barrier reefs in the world are in Australia and Nova Scotia .

Because of the reefs, the waters within are shallow enough to drive piles into. As such, Aumentado, the brains behind the Leyte-Bohol Interconnection Project (LBIP) that has 18 kilometers of submarine cable transferring power from the Leyte Geothermal Plant in Barangay Tongonan to Tugaas Point in Pres. Garcia town in Bohol and on to the mainland, again hatched another ambitious plan – the Cebu-Bohol Friendship Highway (CBFH).

He said along with the tourism master plan, PCI will also present its study on the CBFH that will “link” Western, Central and Eastern Visayas , with Cebu and Bohol as the “heart” of the project. “The viaduct included, the ‘highway' will only be 18 kilometers from Cordoba in Mactan Island in Cebu to Getafe ,” Aumentado said. The highway can also be a “three-in-one affair” as aside from land transportation it can also carry water and power main lines. Cebu needs water from Bohol as in the shelved Bohol -Cebu Water Project as studied by Brown and Root while Bohol intends to get standby power from Cebu in case the Leyte connection bogs down.

l