Bohol gets P174-M worth of new projects for 2007

By: JUNE S. BLANCO

GOV. Erico Aumentado was in Manila most of the time last week in a stay that proved to be productive for Bohol – he brought home PP174-million worth of projects for implementation in 2007. Aumentado reported the good tidings to the Capitol family during Friday's general Christmas party at the Bohol Cultural Center that marked a big difference over last year's gathering – the venue is now fully airconditioned and the acoustics improved although there is still room for improvement. “We swept six of six proposals; Northern Samar scored one of three while we bade Mindanao better luck next time,” the governor said of the outcome of the meeting of the Advisory Committee of the Philippines-Australia Community Assistance Program (PACAP).

The PACAP projects

The new PACAP-funded projects for Bohol are the Poverty Reduction thru Culture and the Arts Development for P5,773,000 proposed by the Loboc Youth Education Corp.; Training Entrepreneurs for Tourism Advancement and Coastal Habitat Protection (TEACH) for P4,429,399 in Clarin town; Loom Weaving Industry Upscaling for Economic Development for P4,702,300 in Tubigon; Poverty Reduction thru Organic Farming for P4,915,000 in Dagohoy; Catigbian Agro-Tourism and Technology for Livestock Enhancement (CATTLE) for P3,335,808 in Catigbian and the Bohol Food Safety Packaging Center for P15,000,000 in Tagbilaran City.

Road projects

“We also got P10 million for farm-to-market roads from the Department of Agriculture and P24 million for the road network in Panglao from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH),” he added. Comprising the former are the Union-Sinandigan-Benliw-Biabas road in Ubay and the San Jose all the way down to San Isidro-San Roque-Aguipo and Poblacion in Mabini town. Comprising the latter are the Poblacion to Doljo Road in Panglao town; and the Poblacion to Mayacabac stretch of the Panglao Circumferential Road and the Tinago to Dao Road , both in Dauis town. Aumentado got President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's green light for the Panglao Roads during their ride to Lila town to partially inaugurate the Bohol Circumferential Road Improvement Project Phase 2 (BCRIP 2) last June 5. He and the former Peregrina “Grenie” Cabagnot renewed marriage vows on their 40th anniversary that day with the President standing as sponsor.

When in Bohol , the governor does not always stay in the office either. He crisscrosses the province and its islets to honor invitations to inaugurations or groundbreakings and at the same time, inspect on-going projects the funding for which he accessed from the different departments of the national government or through counterparting with the private sector. As such, he knows which roads still need improvement. If he had his way, he prefers to have them concreted rather than just asphalt-paved. This is more cost-effective in the long run because concrete roads need less maintenance, he said, citing the BCRIP 2 wherein he insisted that all stretches for asphalt repaving be concreted.

Concreting costs only a little more than asphalting said the governor who took time out to squeeze information from project managers, consultants, the provincial and district engineers and experts. As such he and Rep. Eladio Jala of the 3rd District together wangled another P82 million for the province's Interior Roads Development Program also from DPWH. This includes the Sagbayan-Carmen-Sierra Bullones-Pilar-Alicia and the Sierra Bullones-Jagna roads. On top of these, Aumentado said he is now readying the list of school buildings for construction under a P20-million program for which President Arroyo and Education Secretary Jesli Lapus have committed P10 million each. Again, if he had his way, the governor said he prefers that the provincial government and not the DPWH or DepEd will construct the building. He said with the amount, the province can already build 33 two-classroom buildings or 66 classrooms with complete facilities at only P300,000 each.

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