Gov. Edgar Chatto is bullish of grander achievements for Bohol in 2018 as the province today caps another impact year of development.
Bohol will assert its competitiveness with the completion of the Panglao airport this coming June and its consequent commercial operation by August.
Year 2018 is hoped to see the start of the concrete implementation of the equally ambitious offshore bridge connector or the third Tagbilaran City – Panglao island bridge.
The new year also promises the emergence of the province as the country’s dairy capital with the full support of the Department of Agriculture following the meeting of DA Sec. Emmanuel Piñol and Chatto.
The new provincial capitol, a landmark “green” architecture, will be completed in March.
In governance alone, the province accomplished major feats in 2017, topped by two unprecedented national honors in a fitting reward to what its foremost champion, who is Chatto himself, calls shared leadership.
These are the “Most Business-Friendly Province” Award from the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCC) and, for three years in a row, the “Seal of Good Local Governance” or SGLG from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
The ending well-governed year also had the provincial government and its Bohol Employment and Placement Office (BEPO) receiving the Best PAIR—Partner in the Anti-Illegal Recruitment—Campaign Awards.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) conferred the awards just in mid-December.
On the other hand, the Department of Health (DOH) awarded Bohol as the “Top Performing Provincial LGU on Increased LGU Budget Allocated to Health.”
The DOH further awarded the province for its performances in the following—All for Health Towards Health for All Program, Environmental and Occupational Health Program, Renal Disease Prevention Program, Mental Health Program, HIV Program, and Barangay Health Workers Performance-Based Incentives.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) thru the Philippine Army (PA) cited Bohol for its community-based peace and development initiatives, especially for the rebel returnees.
Year 2017 was also marked by events that created a positive impact on Bohol’s image and promotion as an international convention destination.
Bohol more than impressively hosted the four separate major meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on trade, maritime transport, taxation, and human rights.
It likewise hosted the energy conference of the 34-country Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) and the meeting of the Coordinating Committee for Geoscience Programs in the East and Southeast Asia.
‘InSPIRED HEAT IT’
The province did major accomplishments, a number of them cited just in general terms hereunder, in support to and pursuit of its “InSPIRED HEAT IT” development agenda.
The acronym stands for “Infrastructure; Social well-being and shelter; Peace and order; Interconnectivity; Reforms in governance; Equitable economic growth and environmental sustainability; Disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation; Health; Education; Agriculture; Tourism and livelihood; and Information Technnology.”
INFRASTRUCTURE—Upgrading, rehabilitation and maintenance of local roads and bridges leading to tourism sites, key agricultural production areas, investment areas, and social services areas.
—They have been funded by the provincial government and also through the convergence programs with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and Department of Trade and Industry, and other external sources like the Conditional Matching Grant Program (CMGP) and foreign-aided Philippine Rural Development Project
—Support to other infrastructure projects, government facilities, hospital buildings, school buildings, municipal halls, archive buildings and others
—Power supply resiliency and generation project: Deployment of power barge in Ubay; facilitation and guidance for the One Bohol Power aggregation for sustainable and long-term power, resulting in the distribution utilities crafting the terms of reference for competitive bidding; facilitation for power investors and business locators
—Water supply development: Waterworks assistance program for the LGUs and rural areas; laying of the groundwork for the bulk water supply project with the LGUs, including the other modes of water supply arrangements
—On-going major infrastructure projects: New Bohol airport or Panglao Bohol airport; new provincial capitol building and CPG Park development
SOCIAL WELL-BEING—Aids to individuals in crisis situation, benefiting 9,737 clients with total P10.8 million fund released; program for the persons with disabilities; operation of the Stimulation and Therapeutic Activity Center (STAC) and Bohol Crisis Intervention Center (BCIC); facilitation and coordination for the establishment of the Bohol Youth Home
PEACE AND ORDER—Active operation of the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC); Countryside Development Program – Purok Power Movement (CDP-PPM), which is a socio-economic strategy for peace and development, including anti-drug campaign; Community-based Drug Rehabilitation Program Without Walls (CBRPWoW); operation of the Center for Drug Education and Counseling (CeDEC); conduct of InSPIRED HEAT IT caravans
INTERCONNECTIVITY, PARTNERSHIP—Provincial government and civil society organization partnership for rural development; continuing partnership and collaboration with LGUs, national agencies, business sector, private sector and Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) agencies
—Model province in Open Government Partnership
REFORMS IN GOVERNANCE—Strategic Performance Management System (SPMS) operation; improvement of public financial management, including revenue generation; operation of the Provincial Economic Enterprise Management Unit (PEEMU); establishment of the Café Caloy at Pres. CPG residence; updating of the revenue code; full implementation of the Philippine Public Sector Accounting Standards
—Document Archival Information System (DAISy) at the Provincial Accounting Office (PAccO); development and documentation of the Provincial Government of Bohol – Unified System; continuing improvement of the procurement systems and processes; conduct of regular, special and follow-up audit engagements; enhancement of the Audit Recommendations Monitoring System (ARMS); on-going construction of the new provincial government center and new annex building
EQUITABLE GROWTH, SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT—Continuous operation of the Bohol One Stop Shop (BOSS) and Negosyo Center; conduct of Bohol BOSS Asenso Negosyo caravans; local economic development through investment promotions and business-friendly environment; facilitating making business, creating jobs
—As of last November, a total of 5,159 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) were registered at a total investment of P1.438 billion, employing about 11,493 individuals
—Provision of access and convenience; streamlining of business processes, making it easy at the Bohol Investment Promotions Center (BIPC) for entrepreneurs and investors to set up business
—Facilitation for the establishment of the full Bohol branch of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)
—Environmental programs: Coastal resource management and coastal law enforcement; Integrated Natural Resources and Environmental Management Project (INREMP); ecological solid waste management; pollution control program; water resource management, sand and gravel monitoring; marine protected areas; initiatives and support activities for the proposed Bohol geopark / geosite; Environmental Management System (EMS)
DISASTER RISK REDUCTION—Expanded and improved operation of the TaRSIER 117 through equipment upgrading and establishment of satellite units in Jagna and Carmen; continuing training for LGUs, volunteer groups on disaster preparedness and response; completion of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) Command Center
HEALTH—On-going improvement of hospital facilities, equipment and services pursuant to the hospital modernization program; various health programs for healthy lifestyle, dental services, HIV/AIDS control, blindness prevention, renal disease, dengue prevention, drug testing, rabies prevention, mental health, disability, tuberculosis, maternal health, and population development;
—Conduct of surgical, medical and dental missions in collaboration with volunteer partners; this year, 30 regular medical missions were done, serving 5,357 patients; 10 CDP-PPM missions, serving 2,992 patients; 10 outreach missions to senior citizens, serving 3,274 beneficiaries
—Assistance/facilitation of major foreign and national surgical missions, including massive free heart operations
—Philhealth for all
EDUCATION—Pres. Carlos P. Garcia Scholarship Program for 72 scholars, each receiving P6,000 for tuition fee per semester, P700 allowance per month and P1,000 book allowance; Bohol Education Subsidy Program for 1,200 grantees, each getting P2,500
—Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES); student recognition program; construction and rehabilitation of school buildings
AGRICULTURE—Implementation of the PRDP, including farm-to-market roads; crops productivity enhancement; vegetable production; farm mechanization; fishery resource development; Bohol organic agriculture program; livestock development; livelihood and enterprise through dairy industry development and meat-based enterprise;
TOURISM, LIVELIHOOD—Development, marketing and promotion of tourism sites and attractions; conduct of local and overseas job fairs and special recruitment activities
—New direct flights from South Korea via Incheon to Bohol via Tagbilaran; Davao to Bohol; and Clark, Pampanga to Bohol
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY—Continuing development and upgrading of IT-based systems and processes of the provincial government; continuing aggressive public and private collaboration for IT-based industry