The Inabanga River winds through the northern coast of Bohol, its waters fresh, abundant — and largely untapped. Long eyed as one of the province’s most promising potable water resources, the river remains underdeveloped even as Bohol deals with a growing demand for water supply. (Contributed photo)
Bohol Governor Aris Aumentado on Wednesday denied allegations that he plans to sell Inabanga’s water supply to Cebu, calling the rumors fake news and warning that those spreading them are out to sow conflict between the provincial government and the Inabanga local government unit.
“There is no truth to this,” Aumentado said, noting that Bohol itself faces a growing water shortage, making any plan to export the resource to a neighboring province illogical.
The denial comes against the backdrop of a long-running debate over the fate of Inabanga’s water.
As far back as the 1990s, a foreign consortium — ANGLO and its partner Kinhill Brown — had proposed an ambitious project to bring water from Inabanga in Bohol to Mactan Island, Cebu through a 30-kilometer submarine pipeline, with pumping stations to distribute the water to other areas of Metro Cebu.
A formal feasibility study was also conducted on a Bohol-Cebu Water Supply Project that would have diverted fresh water from the Inabanga watershed to Cebu Island, covering water capture, treatment, transmission, and storage.
That proposal was never implemented, but it left a lasting sensitivity among Boholanos over the prospect of the province’s water resources being diverted elsewhere.
Aumentado said the false information circulating now appears to have been deliberately crafted to damage the relationship between the provincial government and the municipality of Inabanga.
Meanwhile, Second District Rep. Maria Vanessa “Van-van” Cadorna Aumentado is moving to strengthen the town’s water infrastructure, eyeing P50 million in funding to develop the Inabanga waterworks system.
The congresswoman said the proposed allocation would serve as seed funding to secure long-term water supply for Inabanga and Bohol province.
Provincial officials said developing water resources from the Inabanga River remains one of the key solutions to addressing the province’s rising demand for potable water.