The New Bohol airport

It took 30 years for the project to come to a reality. Today, the Bohol Panglao International Airport is making waves in the history of their province. I saw how it all came into reality. I was privileged enough to be able to enter the facility when the terminal still consisted of columns, the runway was still too narrow. And when it was finally ready for its unveiling I have seen how the Boholanos gleam with pride that they now have an international airport to boast of that will hopefully hype their eco-tourism even more.

But what was supposed to be a historic night for the Boholanos turned into a disaster when in the middle of the speech of the president, the power went out. Everybody gasped as the president was surrounded by personnel of the Presidential Security Group. His audio was still there and we heard on the background how he complained of the power of the airport. The man whom he was talking to explained that they were using generator power for the event and somehow, it just failed in the middle of his speech.

As to why they did not use commercial power during that event, we don’t know. Officials from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines have been telling us that this is still under investigation. I can feel that they were all embarrassed by the scene that power outage brought upon them. Well, they should have prepared enough for that big day.

On the other hand, we can also say with pride that it is a step up in our transport industry. Bringing in more flights to Bohol would not only mean more tourists but also open more business opportunities to the locals. The province has always been dependent on tourism to boost their economy. Now that a surge of passengers is being expected, they should also keep their guard on for possible individuals who could harm the environment. The natural resources that they have are their gems in the tourism industry.

I’m not so keen on their airport’s design though. It looks like the Terminal 2 of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, only that it is green and smaller. They said it is an eco-airport with 30% of its power harnessed from solar energy. Some of the areas do not even have airconditioning to conserve energy. Although it may be impressive to some extent, it seems like we can do more. The Filipinos are world-class when it comes to design.

With all this aside, we should be proud that another province in the Visayas has stepped up its game when it comes to receiving visitors. We’re in it for the long haul of delivering our commitment to provide the best hospitality in exchange for tourism. I know that Bohol can achieve even more. If you have time go and visit, see for yourself what we have to offer now to the world.