By I. Inojales | 11:46 AM March 02, 2025
Bohol Gov. Erico Aristotle Aumentado on Sunday shared a message on Facebook seemed like an answer to a post of former provincial administrator Kathyrin Pioquinto.
“We strongly believe Bohol is more competitive now than before with the recent developments pouring into the province,” said Aumentado.
Pioquinto said Bohol dropped from 12th place in 2012 to 57th in 2023 as per ranking of the Department of Trade and Industry.
Aumentado said that provincial rankings are based on population and income weighted average of the overall scores of cities and municipalities under a province.
“Rankings of cities and municipalities are based on the sum of their scores on 5 Pillars: Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency, Infrastructure, Resiliency, and Innovation,” Aumentado said.
Aumentado said that Bohol, where tourism is one of its main economic drivers, suffered a heavy blow during the Covid-19 pandemic from 2020-2022 when economic activities almost came to a complete stop.
However, Aumentado said, the tide has turned for the better.
“On Economic Dynamism. Bohol’s component city and some municipalities have risen in their classification, a strong indicator of economic progress. The province’s income from quarry resources increased to an unprecedented P102 million covering June 2022 to December 31, 2024 thereby increasing the shares of municipalities and barangays. Property development related to tourism, business process outsourcing, retail trade throughout the province is in high gear. Leechiu Property Consultants cited Bohol as the place to be for tourism and office spaces.
“On Government Efficiency. The province, city, and municipalities are starting to incorporate digitalization to speed up processes, improve quality of services, and promote ease of doing business.
” On Infrastructure. Various road construction and improvement are ongoing, the biggest of which is the P600 million farm to market road with four bridges funded by the World Bank through the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) from Calape to Antequera. The private sector is infusing more investment in power and water supply, and public transportation. Aboitiz InfraCapital is scheduled to take over the operations and maintenance of the Bohol Panglao International Airport by June this year.
“On Resiliency. The province can deal better when the next natural disaster strikes. The Bohol-Cebu power interconnection of NGCP is now fully energized complementing the existing Leyte-Bohol line. A 24 MW solar energy farm is operating in Dagohoy and another is being developed in Sikatuna and other areas. The diesel power plant in Ubay offers redundancy and standby power in the remote event Bohol is cut off from Leyte and Cebu. Wind farms are also being eyed in the southeastern of Bohol.
“On Innovation. The province, city, and municipalities are finding new ways to raise revenue, improve governance, and delivery of basic services harnessing the benefits of modern technology. Public schools in Bohol, with strong support by the provincial government, is partnering with Khan Academy to access free online instructional tool to equip both students and educators, reinforcing the shared commitment to providing high-quality education for all. “
“Rather than be shackled by pessimism, let us be driven by hope and optimism because good things are already happening in Bohol and we are definitely moving forward,” Aumentado said.
Pioquinto, former provincial administrator of then Bohol Gov. Arthur Yap, on Saturday asked what happened to Bohol whom she considered her home.
” 2023: We’re 57th.
“From 12th place to 57th. Out of 82!
” What happened?!
“Did our economy stop moving? Did businesses lose confidence?
Did services become slow? Did opportunities dry up?
Did our roads and systems stop keeping up?
Did we lose the drive to innovate?
” Did we stop leading and start falling behind?
“Because provinces that used to look up to us are now ahead of us!
And it’s not like we lacked opportunities to do better.”
“Something—or someone—did not do their job,” Pioquinto said.
