Sugarlandia and Power
BY: Cong. Art Yap
If Bohol has its heritage churches, Negros Occidental has its heritage homes. I came on the business of power, but I left impressed by a province that has learned, more than once, to smile through hard times.
Heritage, faith and food
Wide cemented roads and a working airport in Silay made Bacolod, Talisay, Silay and Victorias easy to reach. In Talisay, The Ruins were breathtaking: the mansion Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson built in memory of his Portuguese wife, Maria Braga, burned for three days in World War II when guerrillas torched it to keep it from Japanese forces.
Silay, the “Paris of Negros,” is a model for heritage protection. Its ancestral houses carry national heritage recognition, and as early as 1977 residents stood up against a road widening that threatened them. Silay’s rules protecting heritage architecture deserve to be emulated.
Faith here is built in stone. In Talisay stands a replica of Medjugorje’s St. James Church, made possible by the Montinola family and thousands of devotees, with a replica of the Lourdes grotto rising behind it. In Victorias, Alfonso Ossorio’s 1950 “Angry Christ” mural fills the St. Joseph the Worker Chapel.
Then the food: bountiful, tasty and affordable. A seafood dinner of diwal, tanigue, scallops and lapu-lapu soup came to ₱320 a head; kansi and beef bulalo for five, ₱250; the champion feast of chicken and liempo inasal, molo soup and chicken skin, ₱400; empanada and coffee at the Montelibano ancestral home, ₱80. Local guides and drivers charge no commissions on what guests buy. They would rather you come back.
The masks of MassKara
I could not stay for MassKara, but its story is itself a celebration of resilience. It was born in 1980 from two blows: sugar prices at record lows, and the April sinking of the MV Don Juan, which collided at night with a tanker and claimed many Negrense lives. Bacolod chose to wear smiling masks even as its people grieved behind them. Today MassKara anchors the province’s tourism calendar.
What Bohol can learn
Negros Occidental reported more than 2 million tourist arrivals in the first half of 2026 alone. Four lessons stand out.
1. One narrative, many dimensions. Negros sells its sugar story, and its sugar landscape is now on UNESCO’s World Heritage tentative list. Bohol, the Philippines’ first UNESCO Global Geopark since 2023, must sell itself as one multidimensional destination: nature, heritage churches, music, beaches and faith. Geoparks are revalidated every four years, so Bohol faces its first review around 2027 and should arrive with a complete story.
2. Close the food gap. What Bohol lacks is a narrative of food and affordable sights and tastes. Negros treats its cuisine as a main draw and was launched as the country’s first Slow Food Travel destination.
3. Let heritage earn its keep. Silay’s ancestral homes house restaurants and bakeries, tying heritage to family recipes.
4. Protect the visitor’s wallet. A guest who never feels overcharged becomes the best advertiser.
None of this needs a new bureaucracy or a large appropriation, and each can show results within a year.
Power: why I came
Tourism must now carry the load of tiding over local businesses, because sugar is battered by world prices, importations and pests. And tourism, like sugar milling, runs on electricity.
As of September 14, the Visayas grid had logged 134 yellow or red alert days this year, driven by large coal plants out of service and others running derated. DOE expects major baseload additions only from 2028. Until derated plants recover and power barges arrive, the alerts will continue. Meanwhile, consumers pay ancillary reserve charges for reserves that were not there when the grid needed them. People cannot pay for services that were
not delivered.
Three things must be done:
- Restore idle capacity. Hold plant operators, NGCP and DOE accountable for returning plants to full service.
2. Bridge to 2028. Bring in power barges and connect battery storage now. Sugarlandia and Power
3. No service, no charge. Suspend or refund ancillary charges until the grid normalizes, and temper increases when emergency barges arrive.
This takes the combined will of the President, the executive agencies, Congress and the private sector: a whole-of-government and whole-of-society effort.
Negros taught me that behind the mask there may be pain, but behind the smile there is courage. Our wish is that the Visayas be given no more reasons to wear a mask. Enough power. Reliable power. Affordable power, for every Visayan and every Filipino.