THE fateful interview I had with DYRDs Chito Visarra where I discussed about the missed opportunity for Bohol farmers to avail themselves of more than 300 units of farm equipment happened many weeks ago.
But I still get questions from friends regarding that interview.
Unsa man kahay rason ni Art Yap nga gibalibaran man niya ang pagpasulod sa Bohol sa mga farm equipment nga hilabihang daghana?
And my classic reply is always – lisod tugkaron ang rason ni Yap. Kon tinuod pa ang iyang giingon nga priority niya ang agriculture, ngano man kaha nga mibalibad man siya nga makasulod diri ang mga equipment nga diha na man unta to sa Baybay, Leyte og igo na lang ilabang sa Ubay.
May chance pa kaha to nga mausab karong panahon ni Gov Aris Sir?
And my usual reply is – morag lisod na kay lain na man pod ang nagdumala sa PhilMech. Niadtong panahona, very close friend nako ang ilang director nga si Baldwin Jallorina maoy hinungdan nga dali ra nako nahangyo.
Indeed, it is a missed opportunity for Bohol farmers.
Imagine, more than 300 farm equipment for different farmer coops and associations and they will get them for free.
Can you imagine the impact of these farm equipment to the Bohol agriculture program?
Actually, the losses was not only more than 300 farm equipment. The actual losses could be more than 500 farm equipment.
Why?
Because Negros Oriental farmers were also allotted more than 200 farm equipment. And the 57 farm equipment in Baybay, Leyte was supposed to be the first batch, all coming from Nueva Ecija down to Bohol via Leyte. If they were able to deliver the initial batch, then PhilMech would have delivered more in several successive batches. Negros Oriental deliveries would be next to Bohol deliveries. But since the initial batch for Bohol was rejected by Art Yap, then the PhilMech opted to donate the equipment to other “receptive” regions instead.
Pagka demalasa gyod lagi sa sobra sa 500 ka mga farm equipment.
The influx of tourists to Bohol is going full blast.
Morag nabalik na pod ang kasadya sa turismo sa Bohol.
Just last Friday, I had visitors from the regional office of Globe Telecom. I invited them so they could do an ocular on the 3 research/livestock facilities in Ubay, Bohol namely: Ubay Stock Farm, SWRDs and the Bohol Experimental Station (BES) for the purpose of establishing internet connectivity.
These 3 facilities are “dead spots,” no signal from Globe or Smart or Dito. The sending of reports by email or messenger is problematic, it has to be physical which is tedious and time-consuming.
But when they bought tickets in the early morning of Friday, it was already fully-booked. If not of the timely intervention of the Oceanjet owner, they could not have booked on that 6am trip from Cebu to Tagbilaran.
Why?
They told me that about 3-truckloads of student groups also boarded, not to mention the scores of Caucasians and Asian tourists.
And when they checked in at one of the plush resorts in Panglao, they were told that they could no longer get another room because they were fully-booked.
Goodness.
A client-travel-tour agent also confirmed that indeed Bohol tourism is back at its feet.
They are now getting amazing bookings for tours and travels and they also enjoy nowadays full bookings for their transport business.
Maayo unta og magpadayon na ni Sir, he told me.
Indeed, this is good news.
So how is it different during the time of Art Yap?
Ah, dako kaayo og diperensiya, he answered.
Daghan mig magastos sa iyang panahon og dako kaayo og epekto sa among financials. Karon kay menus-menus na man og gastos mao nang nalipay na mi.
Buyno, nakatabang pod nang vaccination card na lang ang ipakita sa mga bisita nga mosulod sa Bohol, dili na lisod para sa mga turista, he added.
But there’s a downside to this.
With the throngs of people milling around, I hope the situation in Cebu City will not happen here.
And what is that?
Reports said the incidence of theft and other petty crimes is rising.
Meaning, miandar na pod ang mga kawatan.
Here in Bohol, the kawat is different.
There are “agents” milling around in popular Panglao beaches, soliciting customers for island-hopping or dive tours.
When the hapless tourists turn out the following day, they will discover that the “agents” were nothing but scammers.
No island-hopping, no dive tours and their initial deposit is gone. Tinonto ra diay to tanan.
If this practice is not addressed, then I suppose this will have adverse effect in the seemingly booming tourism industry in the province.
Another meeting is set tomorrow between a team sent by BBM to Bohol in order to discuss various agri-fishery concerns in the province.
The team also wants to tap the budget expertise of Jagna Mayor JR Rañola so he could utilize whatever “savings” are available on the national budget that BBM could use for his urgent plan to arrest the looming food crisis in the country.
I hope I could insert the team to the busy schedule of Gov Aris Aumentado tomorrow so they could also discuss more infra and agri-fishery projects for Bohol.
