‘TWAS two days before Christmas but Gov. Erico Aumentado was still at it – preparing proposal letters that he would personally follow up on his next out-of-the-country trip. This even as his family and household staff, in the spirit of Christmas, already shifted gears preparing gifts and food for guests and friends the following day – and for the traditional noche buena as well.

The governor was to leave for Cebu en route to Taipei in Taiwan and to Macau in the afternoon of Christmas Day – to return in time for today's celebration of the 111th commemoration of the martyrdom of the foremost national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal. Aumentado is seeking assistance from Director for Economic Affairs Ditha Angara-Mathay of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan .

In his letter, Aumentado asked Mathay to help him meet officials of a reputable steel companies in Taipei or elsewhere in the Republic of China to buy high-grade nickel and manganese for steel production from the Philippines – or investors in mining. He also asked her to help him invite Taiwanese investors for hotels and resorts as well as other areas of tourism investment. “With over half a million tourists already coming to Bohol, right now we lack about 2,500 rooms even with local investors building or expanding their hotels and resorts,” he wrote.

“We expect to double the room backlog by 2011 when the Panglao Bohol International Airport shall be operational. Thus the need for investors in the light of the burgeoning tourism industry in Bohol , the land of history and natural beauty, where thousands of Taiwanese tourists are visiting yearly,” he added. Aumentado also brought VCDs and brochures on Bohol for Mathay to present to would-be investors. As in his previous trips abroad to promote tourism and invite investors to Bohol , Aumentado did not spend government money in his Taipei and Macau trip.