EDITORIAL
Wanted: A leader with an inclusive vision
According to the Bohol Provincial Tourism Office,
more than a million tourists visited Bohol in 2023.
Sixty-seven percent (67%) of the arrivals were
domestic tourists, while the remaining 33 percent
were foreign travelers.
The influx of domestic and foreign tourists visiting
our province to savor an authentic experience at the
Bohol Island Geopark is a blessing that tourism
stakeholders and all Boholanos must be grateful. We
must be proud to welcome them with our tourism
tagline Behold Bohol as they marvel at our rich
geologic history and culture.
Bohol’s tourism capital is God-given and is
supposed to be free for all. For a province that was
once listed among the poorest provinces in the
Philippines, commodification of Bohol’s rich geologic
history and culture to uplift the lives of the Boholanos
is a wise move that creates job opportunities that
were absent when the province was primarily
dependent on agriculture for livelihood.
As Bohol became a popular tourism brand, the
ugly face of commercialism and opportunism surfaced,
like Medusa’s hair in Greek mythology. Recently, the
viral video of a travel vlogger showing a woman who
was simply making a living by canvassing passengers
for a transport service sparked different vehement
reactions for seemingly choosing rich travelers. It
turned out to be just a case of bad pronunciation.
A simple search on social media will give us a
quick insight into how Bohol has come a long way in
overpricing our tourism brand. Everything has become
expensive and overpriced, from the airport to the
hotels and the tourist sites. For a ten-minute ride from
the airport to the hotel, tourists need to spend P200 to
P700. Food prices are no exception. On several
occasions, Bohol was placed in a bad light for
exorbitant food prices. The prices of real estate in the
province may have escaped public attention, but the
reality is that real estate is becoming too expensive for
Boholanos to acquire. Thanks to capitalists from other
parts of the country and foreign countries for creating
the real estate hype.
While it’s true that Bohol’s tourism industry has
created job and other income opportunities, the
exorbitant prices caused by this tourism bubble have
inflicted more harm than good on the Boholanos,
highlighting the urgent need for action.
The Chocolate Hills and other geological features
may withstand over-commercialism for years. But we
should already be wary since nature takes away
everything when its cup runs over.
Bohol must not rest on its laurels as a global
geopark. We need to protect our natural capital from
degradation and destruction and ensure the welfare of
our locals. This requires a leader who spends hours in
meaningful discussions, who has an inclusive vision –
not somebody who caters to big business interests
only – leaving the unempowered to struggle on their
own.