No less than Department of Transportation (DOTr) Sec. Arthur Tugade bared that P2.3 billion worth of projects aiming to improve Bohol ports are in the offing.
Tugade declared that Bohol will get a myriad of projects from his department – all due to the persistence of Gov. Arthur Yap and former governor, now first district Cong. Edgar Chatto who have been asking the national government for projects.
Tugade announced the additional project package during the inauguration of the new Tagbilaran City tourist sea port passenger terminal building on Wednesday, Apr. 14, 2021.
The secretary was joined in the inauguration by Yap and Chatto together with Second District Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado, Rep. Kristine Alexie Tutor of the Third District and City Mayor John Geesnell Yap II.
The secretary said before flying to Bohol that he and Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago finalized the plans for four critical ports in the province.
Tugade said the P2.3 billion will finance expansion of the Tagbilaran city port cargo area and improvement of the back portion and roll-on-roll-off (roro) ramp of the port in Jagna town.
The port in Getafe will also get some funding out of the P2.3 billion, for port improvements.
A sizable budget will be allocated for the rehabilitation of the Catagbacan port in Loon which has been damaged by the 2013 earthquake, according to reports.
As Tugade fulfilled his promise to Chatto who strongly lobbied for project support funds when the latter was governor, the secretary said he would also fulfill his commitment to Yap, too.
Tugade described Yap, as pesky, who would not stop following up the status of the latter’s requests until the requests get approved.
CREATING A HUB FOR A DIVERSIFIED BOHOL ECONOMY
Yap thanked President Duterte and Tugade for investing in Bohol as a prime tourist destination-and for their support for Bohol’s aspirations to become a logistics, food and transport hub.
Yap hopes that Tugade could help convince Duterte for assistance in the province’s drive to diversify Bohol’s economy by establishing the logistics hub, where the backbone of the hub would be the different ports.
The logistics hub is an integrated center for transhipment, storage, collection and the distribution of goods.
Moreover, Tugade also turned over two containerized cold storage facilities to the provincial government which could boost the agricultural sector by ensuring food security here.
In essence, the hub facilitates more than one mode of transport, where the process is simplified with the end goal of driving transportation costs.
“In this way, we are not only helping the province’s economy but also complementing with Cebu by building our industries,” Yap said.
The hub could attract new business investments as companies may end up setting up shop in Bohol.
The governor cited the areas along the northern-northwestern corridor, where export processing and special economic zones may be built, in a bid to diversify Bohol economy and not just rely on tourism and overseas Filipino workers remittance as source of income for
majority of Boholanos.
Tubigon port will serve as the logistics backbone for the export processing and special economic zones, according to the governor.
Bohol’s economy is heavily dependent on the services sector.
About 70% of the total value of Bohol’s economy is sourced from the services sector, which includes tourism, Yap said.
The governor added that the pandemic has taught Bohol a valuable lesson which is not to rely on the tourism industry alone.
Tugade assured his full support to the direction of the province in terms of diversifying its economy.
“As I end my talk today, I would assure the good governor, efficient and hardworking he is, that I support you in that direction. After this gathering, you and me and my team can speak about the hub plan, about the dream,” the secretary said.