AUSTRALIAN envoy to the Philippines Anthony John Hely will keynote Sunday, July 22, Bohol's celebration of its 153 rd Foundation Day commemorating its separation as a province distinct from Cebu and Siquijor. Hely will also inspect projects implemented in Bohol funded by his government through the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), and speak on “Water for Bohol's Economy, Communities and Environment” during the Bohol Water Summit the following day. Along with three others, Hely stands to be conferred Datu Sikatuna awards by Gov. Erico Aumentado during the Sunday morning program at the Bohol Cultural Center in Tagbilaran City. The Datu Sikatuna award is the highest honor the province gives to individuals who have contributed much to the development and progress of Bohol. Aumentado said the Australian government is Bohol's third biggest Official Development Assistance (ODA) funder to date. The award recognizes Hely for his invaluable support for the sustained ODA through the Philippines-Australia Community Assistance Program (PACAP), Philippines-Australia Human Resource Development Facility (PAHRDF), Local Governance Development Program (LGDP), Land Administration Management Project Phase 2 (LAMP 2-Bohol), Philippines-Australia Technical Support for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (PATSARRD), Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR), Strengthening the Implementation of Basic Education in Selected Provinces of the Visayas (STRIVE). These projects, he said, lead to poverty reduction in the province, good governance and well-being of the Boholano people. Aside from the inspection of projects in Loboc and Sevilla towns, Hely will also break ground for the LAMP 2 One-Stop-Shop building at the new Capitol Site, as well as keynote the Bohol Water Summit at the MetroCentre Hotel and Convention Center, both in Tagbilaran and launch the LAMP pilot site in Corella town.

Water summit

LGDP through partnership adviser Rosalinda Paredes is sponsoring the summit on the theme Protecting the Water Resources of Bohol which at least 150 stakeholders are expected to attend. Paredes said after Aumentado delivers his “State of Bohol Water Address” (SOBOWA), he will sign an executive order creating the Bohol Integrated Water Resources Management Board (BIWRMB). The board is tasked to ensure that the water resources and sanitation activities of the province will be managed and sustained well. Aside from Hely, Counsellor Sam Zappia of the Development Cooperation, Program Director Juliana Hinterberger of the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and Program Director David Goodwins of LGDP will witness the signing, she added. Goodwins and Hinterberger will also deliver messages: Towards an Integrated Water Supply System for Bohol and Building Bohol's Capability for Water Resources Management respectively before Hely's keynote address. The summit aims to address the challenge Bohol faces – striking a balance between the demand for a continuing availability of adequate, clean and safe supply of water to promote local economy, meet the demands of communities – and the demand for environmental protection and sustainability.

Other Bohol Day awardees

Aside from Hely, other Datu Sikatuna awardees are Dr. Ludgerio Torres, director of the Philippine Heart Center (PHC); Peter Thomas Reichman, president of the Vaccines for the Philippines – a foundation comprised of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (CJC-LDS), and Francisca Baluyot, president and chief executive officer of the Philippine Gift of Life (GOL). Torres is recognized for his humanitarian missions in Bohol by bringing open-heart surgeries to the province, thereby giving a new lease on life and well-being to heart patients from Bohol and the rest of the Visayas, Luzon and Mindanao. Reichman is honored for his humanitarian missions in Bohol and in acting as Bohol's ambassador of goodwill to the CJC-LDS, the friend of all nations, thereby ensuring its sustained assistance in terms of medical equipment, supplies and medicines as well as improvement of some district hospitals therein resulting to the enhancing of the health services for the Boholano people and their well-being. On the other hand, Baluyot is recognized for her invaluable services as coordinator of various humanitarian, medical and surgical missions in Bohol by foreign and domestic missioners, which have benefited thousands of indigent patients and contributing to the improved health services and well-being of the people. Meanwhile, Aumentado will also confer a special award on Iluminado Bok, a tricycle driver, for his outstanding honesty by returning to its owner through the Tagbilaran City police a pouch containing US$1,700 left in his tricycle despite his extreme need for money for the hospital bills of his ailing wife and the support of his growing family.