Anticipating low harvest in drought:

OPA appeals to rice farmers:

Make next cropping count

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA)—With indications that the wet cropping harvest may not be as good as projected, the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist urges farmers to make the next cropping count by going for site specific rice varieties and other high value crops, while the drought continues to sear the land.

Agricultural Technologist Maricel Barloso, who is the rice program focal person at the OPA, shared at the Kapihan sa PIA that of the province’s 53,880 hectares of rice lands, the El Nino which started to be felt in August, has made farmers adamant in gambling on a cropping season that may end up in disaster.

She said the situation has resulted in only about 30,000 hectares or 55 percent of the total rice area was planted, some of the farmers starting the season late, that their plants did not survive.

She however reported that the OPA has received reports of some 2600 hectares which were planted between May to July, have already been harvested.

Earlier, the OPA also reported that 13 towns, mostly rice producing, have already reported a total of P125.7 million in crop damages, while the OPA hinted that more may be coming.

Barloso also said that some of their rice technicians reported farmers who plated late in August are still hoping that the rains in September can be sufficient enough to scavenge some harvest.

The National Irrigation Administration however, in an interview revealed that they have been advocating a technology called alternate wetting and drying (AWD).

AWD is a water-saving irrigation method where instead of keeping a rice field continuously flooded, farmers alternate between flooding the field and allowing it to dry to a safe level before irrigating again.

The few rains in August allowed for a planting season, but towards the end of the month, the drought hit harder than the farmers thought, that many did not think the wilting plants in the cracking farmlands could be salvaged.

The rains in September however did help the plants to recover, Barloso said, that the farmers are hoping to harvest within the next weeks.

While farmers whose farms have survived are now in the heat of harvest, the OPA said the cloud seeding operations set anytime this month, could be the trigger for farm preparations for the dry cropping season.

Bohol has allocated some P5 million while the national government has also committed another P5 million for 61 hours of cloud seeding, to jumpstart the next cropping.

But with the state weather bureau noting that the El Nino is still to hit hardest towards 2027, OPA through Barloso has urged farmers to take the cloud seeding rains to start another season, adopt AWD and go for site specific rice varieties, which can be tolerant to the volume or lack of water during the next months.

She also challenged farmers in rain-fed areas to diversify: by planting high value commercial crops instead, if water is not really available.

This she said will make them access to available food and income, while leaving the farm unplanted gives them nothing. (PIABohol)

Bohol establishes fair-value

tourism, complaints system

TAGBILARAN City, Bohol (PIA)—Decades after Bohol picked on tourism, which has helped the people dramatically alter the province’s economic skyline, Bohol Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado finally steps in to grapple a Frankenstein that has threatened to potentially kill the very miracle-industry Boholanos have created.

Through Executive Order No. 46, series of 2026, Aumentado allows Bohol to wrestle the elephant in the room in tourism, to address the recurring complaints and issues related to Bohol tourism, something leaders of weaker mettle and frail political will could never dare.

In establishing Bohol Fair Value Tourism Program, the governor did not only install and establish standards and systems for tourism safety, quality and service excellence, but it also creates a norm for local tourism price transparency and institutionalizes a tourism consumer response and rapid verification system for industry regulation.

Laid within the framework of the Bohol Sustainable Tourism Development Code of 2025, the new order operates on the principles of quality, transparency, fairness, consumer choice, sustainability and value for money.

Touted as an expensive destination by self-proclaimed pundits in tourism products pricing, Bohol also acknowledges that tourism competitiveness may not necessarily require the lowest prices.

However, providing tourists some value-for-money, cost-effective and meaningful options across wide price levels, as well as mechanisms for fair and prompt resolution of legitimate consumer concerns, has the governor ordering to put up a Bohol Tourist Consumer Response System: (BTCRS) an online, Quick Response Code and mobile phone hotline for complaints.

Also, the order also mandates the periodic preparation of Tourism Price and Consumer Experience dashboard with prevailing prices, seasonal and geographic pricing patterns and other useful data for consumer protection, site management and policy formulation.

For complaints however, the BTCRS needs the establishment, tour provider, location, date of transaction, service or product bought, amount charged as against disclosed price prior to the deal and other supporting evidence like receipts, menus, price lists, booking confirmations, photographs, screenshots and other relevant information, indicated.

The order also includes a provision for appropriate legal action to be taken against persons responsible for materially false, misleading or incomplete information concerning prices or services that has gone viral or high impact tourism allegation, malicious, designed to damage Bohol’s reputation as a destination, or simply to generate clicks for social media content and similar intents.

On the other hand, malicious, fictitious and clearly abusive complaints would not be entertained by the BTCRS, however this does not necessarily mean the accuser would be freed from any legal liability. (PIABohol)