Chatto to focus on Bohol’s recovery efforts

CEBU, Philippines - Bohol Gov. Edgar Chatto will deliver today his 4th state of the province address (SOPA) before members of the Provincial Board during its regular session to be attended by key provincial officials and department heads.

The governor’s speech is expected to zero in on the provincial government’s recovery efforts in the wake of two calamities that hit Bohol last year.

A 7.2-magnitude earthquake rocked Bohol on Oct. 15, last year, and claimed more than 200 lives, injured some 750 individuals, and damaged more than 45,000 homes and a number of centuries-old Catholic heritage churches.

Bohol also suffered the devastation of typhoon Yolanda on November 8, also last year, when hundreds of residents of some 27 islets situated in the northeastern side of the province lost their homes and livelihood.

Although an advanced copy of Chatto’s SOPA was not provided to the local media, a well-placed source told The Freeman yesterday that the governor, in his speech, will also set in motion his “BIG LEAP” agenda for the province. BIG LEAP stands for Bohol’s Inclusive Growth Leads to Equitable and Accelerated Prosperity.

Earlier, the governor rallied the Boholanos to work doubly hard, particularly those in the tourism and agriculture sectors that were badly affected by the quake and the typhoon, so that the province can rise again.

A month after the Oct. 15 tremor, the resilience of the Boholano people reached the attention of national officials.

President Benigno Aquino III, in his 2013 Christmas message to the nation, praised the Boholanos for overcoming the darkness of hopelessness and he likened them as “shining Bethlehem star,” thereby setting an example to the rest of the struggling Filipinos.

“In Bohol, (the people) were down in the disaster, but I myself witnessed: Truly, they were rising, they were fighting,” Aquino said in his message.  

The president further said that like the Boholanos, as “star of Bethlehem that served as beacon light and inspiration to the three kings, we were also filled with energy and hope in the endurance of our people despite the tragedy that they experienced.”

Chatto’s SOPA today, meanwhile, would be covered live by the local radio stations, and the governor is expected to discuss further, in a luncheon meeting that follows, with the PB members his development strategies for the province.  (FREEMAN)