Yap pleads for healing, unity

sacrifice at Bohol Day SOPA

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, July 22 (PIA) – With cracking voice that is unlike most in his public addresses, Bohol Governor Arthur Yap urges Boholanos to respond to the call for healing, unity and sacrifice for others as a call for greatness in these very extra ordinary times.

Speaking before the Sangguniang Panlalawigan in session to render his last State of the Province Address (SOPA) for his first term, the governor’s unusually sad deportment was overshadowed by the 36 minutes of video presentation that made up the majority of the chief executive’s report this year.

Buffeted by critics for the most part of his term and still faced with problems of epic proportions, Gov. Yap set the tone of his address with what could be the continuing defining issue of the year: coronavirus disease.

While citing the heroic work of the Boholanos working in the frontlines of medical health and peace and security braving the risk of getting the virus, the governor said Bohol’s rebid to restart tourism may happen very soon with Bohol awaiting accreditation for the Department of Tourism’s international tourism green lanes.

Getting increasingly dependent on its tourism as economic engine in the pre-COVID months, Bohol economy has since crumbled and crawled with international and domestic tourism practically stopped in the country’s bid to contain the spread of the virus.

Yap in his video report talked about the modernization of hospitals and clinics, making sure that dialysis machines are available outside of Tagbilaran.

He said over half of the dialysis machines have been delivered to local hospitals so that ordinary Boholanos need not go to the city to be served, this as the leadership strives to approximate the services of the country’s leading hospitals in its ten province-owned health facilities.

While in the lull of economic activities brought about by the pandemic, Bohol looked at its inefficient agriculture and introduced science, mechanization, application of the economies of scale to maximize farm outputs.

Using science, mechanization, proper inputs and subsidies as well as technologies, the governor reported stellar farmers performance in rain-fed and irrigated rice fields, aggressive artificial insemination resulting to better dairy animals which is now supplying the targeted nutritional feeding program, and a boosted native chicken production that could heap up Bohol’s chances of feeding its people and tourists as soon as the industry reopens.

Looking at the scarcity of feed stocks brought about by the African Swine Fever travel ban, the governor said Bohol steered into corn, root crops, coconut and rice for a local feed mill industry the insulate the domestic hog industry from the effects of ASF.

Himself the former secretary of Agriculture, Gov, Yap basked with pride when Agriculture secretary William Dar hailed Bohol for choosing priorities that jibe with One DA Transformation goal.

As to potable water development, aside from the P1 million fund for LGU water supply development and rehabilitation, Bohol funded the water desalination plants of Pandanon Island Getafe, Pamilacan Island Baclayon and soon to be implemented Cuaming Island plant in Inabanga.

For power, Bohol banked on the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) Interconnection Project while waiting for the finalization of the mainland based power supply development currently bidding on Bohol Energy Development Advisory Group’s One Bohol Power goal

Capping his address, the governor reiterated his call for healing, unity and sacrifice, for Boholanos to survive COVID and help reengineer Bohol’s recovery. (rahchiu/PIA-7/Bohol)

SOPA SELFIE. Vice Governor Rene Relampagos took a selfie with Gov Arthur Yap after he delivered a 42 minutes State of the Province Address in front of a convened Provincial junta and in time for the 167th Bohol Day celebration, July 22. (rahc/PIABohol/fotoby Ric Obedencio)