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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... read moreAris 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... read more
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...Free, fast wifi to open in BISU thru Google-Smart
Private sector partnership now joins in the government orchestrated move to provide the infrastructure for development in opening a fast and free wireless fidelity (wifi) connection at the government’s state college here. Thanks to Google’s Google Stations in partnership with Smart Communications, the ripples from the Presidential promise of making accessible free wifi hotspots anyone can connect to, gets to Bohol Island State University, this month, according to Smart. During the 2016’s State of the Nation Address, President Rodrigo Duterte has promised to put up free wifi hotspots in public areas in the country. Even as the government stirred itself to provide a strong broadband backbone from which this wifi can get through, a latest report from the World Bank on fast broadband speeds says, every 10-percent increase in broadband internet penetration, this translates to a 1.38-percent increase in a country’s gross domestic product growth. As shown that internet penetration is directly proportional to economic growth, the government through its Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) put up its Pipol Konek: Free Wi-Fi Internet Access in Public Places Project which aims to accelerate the Philippine government’s efforts in enhancing internet accessibility for Filipinos so that, in turn, economic, social, and educational opportunities will be bolstered, and the growing Digital Divide can be bridged. Pipol Konek have live spots in Alburquerque HS, gym, Anda, Baclayon HS, Calape RHC, Dagohoy, Danao, Dauis, Tagbilaran City, Garcia Hernandez, Guindulman, Getafe plaza, Maribojoc town Hall and RHU, Loon town hall and plaza, Baclayon in Montaña and Plaza, Loay, Lila, Mabini, Jagna, Guindulman plazas, Sagbayan, Pilar, CPG Pitogo, Pangalo, San Miguel, Sierra Bullones, Sikatuna,...Local News/ Bohol Balita
Assured of win, Aris still “friends” with opponent
By JUNE S. BLANCO WHEN the Bohol Poll prediction of a landslide his win in the congressional race in the 2nd District comes true, Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado said he will still remain friends with sitting Board Member Agapito Avenido. “I will offer my hand of friendship, a hand of reconciliation, to Aga,” Aumentado said, calling the latter “his worthy opponent”. This after the solon got 83% while Avenido managed only 16% in the penultimate election round of the Bohol Polls conducted April 20 to May 7, 2019 by the Holy Name University’s (HNU) Center for Research and Publications (CRP). Director Ma. Paz Espiritu of the CRP ensured that her team inserted questions on the voters’ preference for congressman of the 2nd District and vice governor in this round before tomorrow’s elections after they somehow “inadvertently” left these out in an earlier round conducted in February to March, the results of which were presented last March 15. As the CRP boasts of a “scientific method” that the Social Weather Station (SWS) had trained them to do, Aumentado thanked the people of the 2nd District who participated in the polls for their trust and confidence in him, in what he has done for them, and will still do in his coming third...Arup presents pre-FS on Bohol-Leyte Link Bridge
By JUNE S. BLANCO DESIGN giant Arup, with 34 offices worldwide including in Manila, presented April 2 to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bohol 2nd District Engineering Office (DEO) in Ubay town its pre-feasibility study (FS) for the Bohol-Leyte Link Bridge (BLLB). Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado who attended the presentation said once constructed, the “ambitious” bridge from Ubay via President Carlos P. Garcia to Maasin City in Southern Leyte will connect Bohol to the rest of the country by land. Aumentado said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded the pre-FS, and a full-blown study will follow. “The bridge is part of the dream of my father, [former] Gov. Erico Boyles Aumentado, to put Bohol among the fast developing provinces in the country today”, the solon said. The father is his immediate predecessor in the House of Representatives. After the funding for pre-FS for the BLLB, Aumentado said up next will be the funding for the FS for Bohol-Cebu Friendship Bridge. He expressed gratitude to President Rodrigo Duterte for pushing these major projects for this province. The BLLB is part of the Infrastructure Preparation and Innovation Facility (IPIF) for roads and bridges of DPWH. On the other hand, Arup’s website states that the company has been working in the Philippines since 1986 – and established a permanent office in Manila in 1990. It provides total design services to meet the increasing demand for high quality, international standard projects for the country’s growing economy. Among the prominent buildings it has designed are the Grand Hyatt Metrocenter, the tallest and biggest mixed-use development in the Philippines, and the St...Aris alarmed over ‘unstable’ power
By JUNE S. BLANCO REP. Erico Aristotle Aumentado has expressed alarm over the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines’ (NGCP) pronouncement, through Cebu and Bohol Information Officer Betty Martinez, that Bohol’s power supply is now “critical”. Aumentdo said he is also saddened with the development, because as early as the last term as governor of his namesake father and immediate congressional predecessor Erico Boyles Aumentado, the lack of power to meet the province’s need with the looming implementation and completion of the Panglao Bohol International Airport was already recognized. The solon had expected that the Provincial Government would have already foreseen this considering that it had continuously invited investors to locate in Bohol. As the investors streamed in, he said, the need for additional power, and faster internet, should have been anticipated already so that these will not reach such critical point. Investors continue to stream in, but their respective operations might be hampered due to the lack of sustainable power, or the additional cost of maintaining power generators. “To think that the airport in Panglao is not yet operating its navigational equipment for nighttime operations, the critical power situation simply means that Bohol is not yet ready for the big time,” he said. Basic infrastructure like power and communications should be in place to make investors seriously consider locating in Bohol. The slow internet has made business process outsourcing (BPO) for call centers similarly slow. The BPOs could have been tapped for more employment. Additionally, he said, President Pinoy should have fast-tracked the matching of power production with the projection, especially with the implementation and impending operationalization of...Aris pushes energ’n of 2nd District islands
By JUNE S. BLANCO JANUARY 7, 2017 will forever be etched in the minds of the over 700 households in the three-barangay island of Mahanay off Getafe and Talibon towns. This was when Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado (Bohol, 2nd District) powered on the ceremonial switch for the P30-million energization project for the island. Engr. Eugene Tan, manager of the Bohol II Electric Cooperative Inc. (Boheco II) assisted him. Not resting on his laurels, Aumentado recently sought updates from former Camarines Sur congressman and now Energy Undersecretary for Power, Renewable Energy, and Media Affairs Felix William “Wimpy” Fuentebella. An island will remain under-developed without the necessary basic infrastructure support. To note, in his switch-on message, Aumentado waxed sentimental as he declared the fulfillment of the promise his namesake father and immediate congressional predecessor, former Gov. Erico Boyles Aumentado, had made to the islanders. Patterned after the Leyte-Bohol Interconnection project, Mahanay taps power from mainland Bohol through submarine cables. The National Electrification Administration (NEA) through then Administrator Edita Bueno downloaded the amount to Boheco II that undertook the bidding process for the cable and installed it, along with the electric poles, power main and lateral lines. Boheco II manages the power distribution to the households as well. The elder Aumentado had broached the energization plan for the 2nd District’s 35 islands and islets to Bueno. With the technology already available, it did not take him long to convince her. However, death overtook him on Christmas Day of 2012. Aumentado, the son, picked up the pieces where his father left off. In 2015, during his own first term as congressman, he brought...DENR launches “RIVERS For Life awards”for ‘19
Consistent with the idea of shared ownership to make communities realize a better environment management and conservation, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) launches in Bohol its awards Recognizing Individuals and Institutions towards Vibrant and Enhanced Rivers (RIVERS). The awards, formally called Rivers for Life would be given out to the best rehabilitated and most improved water quality from the country’s class 3 rivers, this June 2019 in time for the DER’s 32nd anniversary, authorities from the government’s environment agency shared. The program is basically to raise awareness on the need to protect and conserve the country’s rivers as the lifeblood of the earth and human civilization, and taking the cue from Manila Bay clean-up, tap concerted action to protect the country’s rivers from degradation and pollution and assure their suitability, sustainability and further improvement, explains Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer (PENRO) Charlie Fabre at the Kapihansa PIA Thursday. Aware that the government could not lend a presence enough to cover the protection and management of the entire river systems in the country, this time it looks at communities and stakeholders to help them come up with appropriate mitigation measures and interventions to help address the continued worsening conditions of river systems nationwide, the DENR official said. Earlier, the DENR PENROs and Community ENROs submitted an inventory of all rivers in their respective areas of responsibility and from these, the DENR regional committee selected class C rivers for adoption. According to the DENR, Class C rivers are those which may not be safe for swimming owing to the presence less than 100 coliform presence in the...National News
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