When Bohol Governor Erico B. Aumentado signed, on behalf of the province, a sisterhood agreement with the Jiangxi Province of the People's Republic of China now officially known as the Agreement of Friendly-province Relations between the Province of Bohol of the Republic of the Philippines and the Province of Jiangxi of the People's Republic of China, many thought it was just another token agreement that would be forgotten after a few months. People could not be blamed for thinking so. After all, their experiences of sisterhood agreements in the past were that of token agreements.

This time we know the agreement is for real. The visit of the Bohol Technical Working Group (TWG) to Nanchang City , the capital of Jiangxi , from September 18-22, 2006 , proved the seriousness of the agreement to both provinces. I can say this with certainty because being a member of the group, I saw the seriousness of both parties to pursue and make the agreement work.

The agreement signed in Bohol late last year and in Jiangxi on May 8 this year were all affirmation of the intention by both Governors Aumentado of Bohol and Huang Zhiquan of Jiangxi . This agreement cannot be implemented unless further enhanced and fleshed out through a framework agreement which in turn will be broken into specific agreements. That was what the technical working group has done in its visit to Nanchang last week – to flesh out the agreement with their Jiangxi counterpart so that it could be implemented to benefit both provinces.

The TWG was able to get the nod of the Jiangxi Province led by Cheng Shuifeng, Director-General of the Foreign Affairs and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office on the Framework Agreement with agriculture, tourism, mining industry, education, culture and sports as specific agreement components. Mayor Dan Neri Lim of Tagbilaran City led the Bohol team with Mayor Leon Calipusan of Loboc.

The specific agreements on the component areas of the framework agreement will still be finalized through note exchanges that will be facilitated by the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines and its consular office in Xiamen . Both parties have agreed to complete the documents in time for the visit of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo by November 2006.

A sub-agreement is being contemplated to also establish a sister mountain relationship between Mt. Lushan of Jiangxi Province and the Chocolate Hills of Bohol . Lushan, like the Chocolate Hills is also a famous mountain for tourists in Jiangxi . A ceremony is also being arranged for Jiangxi to donate medical equipment to the province-run hospitals in Bohol to be entrusted to Mr. Carlos Chan, Special Envoy of Pres. Arroyo to China and also Advisor to the Jiangxi Provincial People's Association of Friendship with Foreign Countries.

Barring any hitches, the agreement will be effective for five years and automatically renewable unless terminated in writing by any of the party. No detail of the specific agreements could be made public until they are signed. But what is clear at this point is that this is not an empty agreement that people thought of it at first. Next week, we will write about our insights on the other side of the trip.