HIT THE GROUND RUNNING, YAP PRESENTS HIS AGRI AND TOURISM AGENDA

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

HIT THE GROUND RUNNING, YAP PRESENTS HIS AGRI AND TOURISM AGENDA

“Every peso spent in Bohol for food, goes to our Bol-anon farmers,” Gov. Art Yap said of his dream for Bohol.

Wasting no time with fresh mandate given to him as the province’s father, Yap convened tourism and agriculture sectors this week to set directions he is pursuing to achieve his administration’s agenda of creating jobs and opportunities.

The former agriculture secretary and three-term congressman of the third district gathered agriculture commodity champions Friday afternoon.

Offering a new take on Bohol growth, Yap issued directives to determine Demand Per Capita for fruits, vegetables, fish, cacao, coffee, livestock, poultry, as well as to build commodity chains for each product.

Earlier this week, Yap brought to Bohol officials of the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food at an agriculture investment forum for large producers to meet potential partners in Bohol.

The Provincial Government, on the other hand, will work on building more bagsakan centers, enhancing support for planting materials, soil technology, financing, and insurance, as well as connecting producers to the market.

Knowing the demand, production figures, and import value for food being consumed, he said, will enable agriculture sector to determine its growth target, which goal is to increase food supply to bring down the price of food.

Yap’s administration also intends to maximize tourism potential of Bohol. In a meeting with the Management Executive Board, Yap’s marching order was to “Think, live, sleep tourism.”

He said agriculture and culture can be folded into tourism. On top of his strategies to meet agenda on tourism are transportation, waste management, power, and water. He also considers health care, disaster preparedness, and training and capacity building as priority.

He met with tourism and transport sector representatives on Friday to discuss concerns on transportation as well as accommodations.

“We will hammer away until all problems are resolved,” he assured tourism stakeholders.

He will be meeting with Tagbilaran City Mayor Baba Yap, Dauis Mayor Miriam Sumaylo, and Panglao Mayor Nila Montero to iron out issues about routes and operations in a follow up meeting with the transport group.

He is also seeking to reach a compromise with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) for standardization of wastewater treatment facilities in establishments in Bohol.

His administration is keen on investing on tourism promotions and applying a star-rating system for destinations.(edcom)

HNP supports Aris’ 2nd District projects

By: JUNE S. BLANCO

BIRTHDAYS can be celebrations for another milestone in life, a reunion of family and friends, and renewal of commitment of support to political partymates.

The latter was what happened to Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado of the 2nd District – the lone Boholano congressman invited to the recent birthday bash of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.

Sara and her brothers Paolo, Davao City’s 1st District congressman, and Vice Mayor Sebastian affirmed their support for Aumentado. The latter will attend the Hugpong ng Pagbabago’s (HNP) anniversary fete and gathering of supporters tomorrow in Manila as Bohol’s lone representative for Congress.

Aumentado said the affirmation of support augurs well for the implementation of pipeline projects in Bohol’s 2nd District needed to uplift the lives of his constituents.

The projects include the last round for the construction/repair/rehabilitation of barangay multipurpose buildings at P750,000. The next round, the solon explained, will be at P1 million for each barangay.

Other projects include waterworks systems, road concreting, concreting of off carriageway, some with slope protection, river controls, and school buildings, among others.

Aumentado emphasized that these are from national government funds allocated to the Department of Public Works and Highways for which he played a major role in identification and prioritization – which he will shepherd until implementation.

Aris to expand tourism prospects in 2nd District

By JUNE S. BLANCO

REP. Erico Aristotle Aumentado will meet with national tourism officials in Manila this week to map out plans, explore prospects, and develop new attractions for the 2nd district.

Aumentado says he wants synergetic tourism development so that each town can “sell” the destinations of the other towns – instead of competing with each other for tourists to visit their more or less the same, or similar – attractions.

He also said he will pitch sales for the development of a promontory in Cambugsay that is overlooking the dam, and the paddling on the river for talaba (oysters) downstream in Cambuhat, Buenavista.

He will also arrange with the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) for water-borne adventure tourism in the dam. Just like in Cambuhat, the food will be cooked and prepared by a people’s organization to augment their respective family incomes.

When realized, the people will then experience dragon boat rides, and feast on fresh, savory and organically grown vegetables and fish dishes harvested from farms.

The only “developed” tourism attraction in the district so far, he said, is the Danao Adventure Park and Playground. He lamented that nothing else of tourism value has been developed along the way as interesting stops.

He wants development to be spread wider, especially with the improvement of the Ubay Airport. To boot, Ubay is nearer to the fine white sand beaches in Anda and whatever it is that the towns along the way can develop.

Bohol poverty incidence Drops by 5.3% in 2018

Poverty incidence in Bohol continue to slide down in the last three years, from 31.3% in 2015 to 26% in 2018, recent data from the local Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show.
By poverty incidence, the PSA means the minimum income and expenditure required for a family of five members to meet the basic food and non-food requirements every day.
Of the above figures, 2 for every 10 families did not meet their basic food and non-food needs, at least in the first semester or 2018, as to the PSA-released new data they gleaned from their most recent surveys in Bohol.
Is that bad enough? Yes and no.
Roughly, that means 26 of every 100 Boholano families can not afford to meet their basic food and non-food needs.
One good thing though, in 2015, the figure used to be 31 of every 100 Boholanos not affording to meet their basic food and non-food needs.
In its poverty statistics data for the first semester of 2018 that they produced, the PSA came out with the poverty threshold, poverty incidence, food threshold and subsistence incidence for Bohol.
The PSA said a family of five in Bohol would need P 12,613.00 per month to meet their basic needs in food and non-food requirements.
Beyond that, the family would belong to the figures in the poverty incidence, where the proportion of families with per capita income and expenditure is less than the per capita poverty threshold to the total number of families.
How much would a Boholano family of five, need to meet their basic food needs?
Here in Bohol, according to the PSA, a family of five needs at least P8,796.00 to meet their basic food needs in the same period.
Basic food means simple rice and viand, and nothing fancy, that a family would need to be productive.
With the same data, 8 in every 100 families do not have sufficient income to meet their basic food needs in the first semester of 2018.
Going factual and graphic about it, some 10.3% of all individuals can not afford their basic food needs in 2018.
The 10.3% however is already a good improvement from the 13.2% which popped up in the previous surveys.
Now at the start of another leadership, the PSA data would be an appropriate staring point, observers have said.
Capitol media, in their recent press statements have already praised the newly elected governor Arthur Yap for hitting the ground running.
Netizens however have said that if the local authorities would not be condoning the labor malpractices of businesses by forcing them to implement labor laws especially on the mandated minimum wage, that alone could help Boholano families jump up the poverty threshold.
According to the Regional Tripartite Wage Productivity Board in its Wage Order No. ROVII-21 which took effect in August of 2018, the current minimum daily wage for Bohol is P323.00 for non-agricultural work and P333.000 for employers hiring less than 10 workers.
With a family of five having two members working, a full minimum wage law implemented here is already enough to get a family past the 12,600+ threshold.
Sadly though, some non-agricultural workers here still get below P250.00 daily wage, a department store worker who refused to be named said. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

15 lady mayors, eight VMS To bring women issues up

Win some, lose some.

Boholano women lost two valuable and strategic key seats in local governance, sliding back from the 17 mayoralty seats they were able to win in 2016 to only 15 in the recent midterm national and local elections, data from the local Commission on Elections bare.

The 15, which comprise some 31.25% of the 48 local chief executive positions, is a shade lesser than the 35.41% that Boholano women have celebrated as these have assured them more strategic representation of their gender-based issues and concerns in governance in 2016.

The 15 lady mayors getting elected as local chief executives are Balilihan’s Maria Pureza V Chatto, Bien Unido’s Renee B. Borenaga, Catigbian’s Elizabeth E. Mandin, Duero’s Conrada C. Amparo, Dauis’ Marietta T. Sumaylo.

Guindulman’s Maria Fe A. Piezas, Inabanga’s Josephine Socorro C. Jumamoy, Panglao’sLeonila P. Montero, Pilar’sNecitas T. Cubrado, Sevilla’s Judith B. Dano, Sikatuna’sJustinianaEllorimo, Talibon’s Janette A. Garcia, Trinidad’s Judith D. Cajes and Valencia’s Maria Katrina L. Lim.

In 2016, women took 35.41% of the seats while sidling in 17 mayoralty seats of Bohol’s 48 towns and a city.

When Boholanos elected two less lady mayors in the recent elections, the picture is almost similar with the local legislative offices.

From 11 lady vice mayors who had the tactical advantage to push from the women agenda in the local legislation in 2016, the number is now down to 8, losing the three seats that could have been a strategic post with the environment for changes now slowly getting ushered.

These are Batuan’s Precious Joy D. Baguio, Buenavista’s Ma. Christine C. Torregosa, Candijay’sJesusa B. Mapute, Corella’s Asuncion B. Daquio, Dagohoy’s Ma. Shirley A. Amodia, Duero’s Gillian R. Achacoso, Lila’s Regina C. Salazar and Sagbayan’s Asuncion B. Ybañez.

Up to help them bring gender based issues and its development into the arean of local legislation are 91 elected lady town councilors and a good number of men councilors who consider gender equality as a key stepping stone to an integral development of communities.

In 2016, women vice mayors occupied 22.91% of the seats available, one which slid down to 16.67% in the recent elections.

While the women appeared to have lost significant seats in the local posts, a glimmer of hope shines in the provincial positions.

In 2016, women took two posts of the 10 seats of the SangguniangPanlalawigan with then Board Members Kristine Alexei B. Tutor and Jone Jade A. Bautista. This was later propped with Board Member Gloria B. Gementiza getting the PCL, which added to them a seat.

This past election, the women improved their representation in the more powerful Sanggunian with Board Member elect Lucille Y. Lagunay (Bohol I), Franz Gelaine C. Garcia and Vierna Mae B. Maglasang (Bohol 2) and Board Member elect Jone Jade Bautista (Bohol 3).

Biggest among Bohol women’s scored victory is for Congresswoman-elect Kristine Alexei Tutor, who snagged the seat for Bohol’s Third Congressional District Representative.

Tutor also holds the record as the first Congresswoman from Bohol District 3. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

Bikers clean up Banat-I trails For World Environment Day

When most of the people took more time in their cozy beds on the early hours of June 5, it being a holiday, mountain bikers were already on the trails of Tagbilaran City’s cross country trail training site, spare gloves on the ready, for the World Environment Day Banat-I clean-up.
While the government declared June 5 as the Eid’lFit’r, and as a regular holiday for both Muslims and non-Muslims, the day also afforded many the rest they needed so breakfasts were mostly delayed as there was no hurry for the day.
For young and professionals who take on to their bikes for the daily sweat dose, that day was one they would be ticking two on their bucket list: go get sweating cranking for the climb and do something for the environment for the day.
The challenging climb at Banat-I Park is painful but like all hard efforts, the rewards in the spectacular view from the top easily erases all the pains.
But the garbage that has accumulated in Banat-i, brought by hikers, trail runners or lovers who take the views of the hill, has become an eye-sore for the environment biased bikers and trail runners.
Empty water bottles, soda PET bottles, wine bottles, junk food foil packs, cellophane packaging, styrofoam and food packaging are strewn on the trails, in the camp site and even along the access road, that has marred the beauty of the place.
It is about time we need to do something about it, said biker Engr Rey Tirol, who organized the clean up.
Many trails crisscross Banat-i, that for bikers, the grueling small ring-big cogs grind, or the medium ring medium cogs for power training, has a fit for all types of bikers.
Whether the route follows the road to the top or through the climbing challenge by weaving through the tangle of shrubs, slowly picking the way past the vines and to the tower, a nasty plastic caught in the roots and undergrowth, have concerned the Banat-i users.
Already with three of the best developed bike race routes less than 10 minutes from the heart of the City, Banat-ihas slowly become the favorite playground for the boys and men in their expensive bike rigs.
Banat-I, one of the two more prominent hills rising above Tagbilaran affords those who climb through it one of the most spectacular views, not to mention the health premium one can get for the rigorous climb, even by leisurely hikers.
Also becoming a favorite playground for the already building number of trail runners in Tagbilaran, Banat-I has openly embraced these health conscious athletes as well as lovers on their romantic sojourns.
“The more people are, in the hills, the more the garbage, we need to do something about it,” Tirol added.
Over 20 bikers on 26’rs, 27.5s and 29’rs pedaled up the Banat-I that morning, placed their bikes on top, and with still wearing cleats, bikers followed the trails on foot, bringing with them sacks and tongs to pick up garbage.
After about an hour of clean-up, over 5 sacks of garbage were brought to a stockpile for the city garbage trucks to collect.
The bikers also put up signs on top of the hill, to be responsible by taking nothing pictures, wasting nothing but time and leaving nothing but footprints. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)