Hats off, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo flattered Boholanos with commendatory remarks on the leadership of Governor Erico B. Aumentado which has gradually transformed Bohol from being a poverty-ridden province in year 2001 into a model for peace and development for the country in 2006. Speaking during the unveiling of markers and commissioning ceremony for the P3.6-billion Bayongan Dam in San Miguel on October 12, the President, clad in a powder blue sleeveless suit, also commended the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and consultants for a job well on the giant dam. The dam, which took NIA about seven years to construct, has been intended to improve Bohol 's total rice production capacity as it proposes another 42,500 tons of harvest with the target of irrigating 5,300 hectares of farms. Support infrastructures for the dam include a network of farm-to-market roads and 97 kilometers of access roads including the 16.5-kilometer Ubay-San Jose-Cabulao road improvement project which ease up hauling of farm produce and cater for comfortable travel of tourists to different places in the province as well, Arroyo cited.

The President said the infrastructures can be considered support projects to Bohol 's anti-poverty reduction initiatives which helped convince the rebels that the government cares and that public service extends to their end. In 2001, Bohol was seventh in the list of the poorest provinces in the country. That time, about 30 percent of the people have allied or actively supported the rebels, she added in Cebuano. But the local government intervention had been crucial in addressing the problem with a comprehensive strategy of anti-poverty programs together with military operations. The program also coincided with the church's local peace programs along with national government development strategies and the community support, she said.

“ Bohol taught all the people that the way to peace isn't just through the barrel of a gun. Rather, it begins with providing a person a job, food on the table and human dignity,” Arroyo pointed out. For those initiatives, “in 2005, almost all communist fronts were defeated…and Bohol went off the list of 20 poorest provinces to be at the country's top 40,” she said with a beam. Bohol was recognized best performing province in poverty reduction in 2006 and was acknowledged one of the country's provinces with the highest annual growth rates,” the President said. At the center of the success is investment on people- -education, healthcare, irrigation, roads, bridges and schools, she added.

“This irrigation project would increase farm production in the northeastern part of Bohol , including some places in Pilar where the remaining communist front has established camp in 2005,” Arroyo told the crowd in Cebuano. As part of the ceremony, the president distributed tilapia dispersal certificates, training certificates and seed subsidies including flatbed mechanical dryers to uplift the living conditions of families in the farms at the Bayongan service area. “Because of this, we envision that the next growth center for agriculture and investments comes in this part- -from Pilar to Ubay, Trinidad and San Miguel,” the President said as a way of assuring Boholanos of stability and growth.