BOHOL is P52 million richer, courtesy of Senator Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri. The chair of the Senate Committee on Cooperatives yesterday said the first tranche of his commitment will be released by November or December. Zubiri keynoted the Grand Cooperative Gathering organized by Provincial Board member Josephine Socorro Jumamoy at the Bohol Cultural Center in Tagbilaran City attended by at least 1,292 members of different cooperatives across the province. Jumamoy chairs the Provincial Cooperative Development Council (PCDC) as well as the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) Committee on Cooperatives. The senator said the amount will cover projects at P1 million each for the 47 towns. He is giving another P5 million for the cooperatives that he will course through Gov. Erico Aumentado, Vice Gov. Julius Caesar Herrera and Jumamoy.

The towns can use the amount for school- or multi-purpose buildings while the PCDC will screen which projects will be funded out of the P5 million. Zubiri earned a fourth place berth in Bohol in the last senatorial race that in turn earned him a ticket to the Senate. As an expression of gratitude, and with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's green light, he said he is all set to release P1 million to each Bohol town. The senator has been going around the country: Cagayan de Oro City last week, Iloilo City today and Misamis Occidental next week, among others, to feel the pulse of the cooperatives on the ground on the antiquated Cooperative Code. He said the 18-year old Code apparently needs amendments in some areas of its provisions in order to make it reactionary to the call of the times. Cooperativism, he noted, is anchored on three guiding principles. For it to develop – it must have an enlightened and principled leadership, active participation of the members and good management. On the other hand, Aumentado thanked Zubiri for the amount. That, he said, will surely go a long way in helping them fight poverty. and insurgency, and on to development and progress.

The Zubiri fund is a big boost considering the limited amount the province, through the SP, allocates yearly, he said. He tasked the Bohol Poverty Reduction Management Office (BPRMO) “to always help the co-ops” because they contribute greatly to the progress of Bohol. He pressed the members of the cooperatives to also learn new skills that would be useful when the Panglao Bohol International Airport shall have been operationalized. Aumentado just arrived yesterday from Manila where he presided over the meeting of the Panglao Island Tourism Estate Inter-Agency Task Force (PITE IA-TF). A new timeline has been set: He said President Arroyo is bullish on a first quarter 2008 bidding instead of July, and a November start of civil works instead of June the following year. Work on the 2.5-kilometer runway and appurtenances and the terminal building with allied facilities will be done simultaneously in order to meet the April 5, 2010 inaugural date – that falls on her birthday. The province's own timetable for the airport's support infrastructure is also now available, he said. Among others, the two causeways and two bridges linking Panglao Island to the Bohol mainland will be expanded to ensure against traffic bottlenecks, etc. Activities for yesterday's gathering revolved around the theme Preserve the Environment, Sustain the Economy: Yes, the Cooperatives Can!