Bohol set for tourism boom

With the six-month closure of Boracay effective yesterday, other provinces rich in varied attractions are bracing for the influx of tourists both local and foreign.

Bohol is one of them.

Pauline with (from left) Mayor William Jao of Tubigon town (where Pauline lives), and Bohol Gov. Edgar Chatto and wife Pureza Veloso-Chatto

Pauline with (from left) Mayor William Jao of Tubigon town (where Pauline lives), and Bohol Gov. Edgar Chatto and wife Pureza Veloso-Chatto

As we always do when we are in Tagbilaran, we check in at Bohol Tropics Resort which sprawls on a wide seaside lot, with rows of cottages complete with amenities (air-conditioning, wifi, etc.) amidst coconut trees and other plants. It has two adjacent swimming pools, and a smaller one (heated at night) just beside the two-storey building, the second floor (the presidential suite) of which commands a breathtaking view of the sunset.

The row of cottages at the Bohol Tropics Resort...

Another place to stay in is Mithi Resort & Spa in Dauis, which is ideal for people who prefer a serene surrounding, with the chirping of the birds and the calming effect of the waves hitting the shore as soundtrack at night. Mithi is the perfect alternative to the often crowded, party-alive Boracay.

Before we set off for the Bee Farm, we had a quick early lunch at Payag which serves probably the city’s best-tasting Chicken Inasal better eaten with bare hands. We spent a few hours at the Alona Beach where Fernando Poe Jr. shot a movie (was it Esteban?) with Alona Alegre as leading lady. It is said that the beach had no name yet at that time and, when asked where they were going, local fans would say, “To the beach to watch Alona Alegre shoot with FPJ.” That’s how it became Alona Beach.   

…a bedroom at the presidential suite...

Some other attractions (aside from a close encounter with a tarsier): The Loboc River cruise, the Chocolate Hills and the churches, many of which have been renovated after they were badly damaged by a killer quake a few years ago ­— two of them the Our Lady of Light Church in Loon which was totally destroyed, with an image of The Virgin Mary sans even a scratch, standing tall in the ruins; and the St. Vincent Ferrer Church in Maribojoc, with an image of the saint believed by the residents to be “miraculous” because its wings seemed to grow (that’s why it has to be moved to a bigger, wider space).

“A good portion of a new airport located in Panglao will open in August,” added Gov. Edgar. “It has a much longer runway than the one in Tagbilaran.”

…and the sala

Last March, the Philippine Airlines (PAL) held an “orientation” event emceed by reigning Miss Bohol Pauline Amelinckx, a half-Filipino/half-Belgian Bea Alonzo deadringer who is a B.S. International Studies graduate from the Cebu Doctors University. Pauline has the poise, the regal bearing and the intelligence (beauty and brains) of a national beauty queen…a future Bb. Pilipinas? Why not? (Other Bohol-bred beauty queens: 2006 Bb. Pilipinas-World Anna Maris Igpit and 2009 Bb. Pilipinas first runner-up Rich Asuncion.) We met Pauline during a leisurely lunch at a beach resort in Tubigon town hosted by Mayor William Jao.

By the way, now being planned is a bridge that would connect Bohol and Cebu.

(In future issue: The attractions of Samar.)

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)

Left: An image of St. Vincent Ferrer at a church named after him in Maribojoc town. The image is believed by residents to be ‘miraculous’ because its wings have been reported to be growing. Right: An image of Our Lady of Light in Loon town, the only image spared by the killer quake that hit the province a few years ago, leaving the image standing tall sans any scratch amidst the ruins of the totally-damaged church.