July 10, 2011, The Bohol Standard
Gov. Edgar Chatto sealed linkages with overseas Boholanos in a stroke fundamental to and worthy of a Bohol textbook in Philippine public-private partnership (PPP) policy.He also tied up with purely foreign public institutions and private groups and companies on possible program exchanges, investments and job generation. Greater momentum of collaboration is on sight after the governor inducted the new officers of the Confederation of Boholanos in the USA and Canada (CONBUSAC) led by Dr. Neil Bonje as president.
The governor opened wider door for cooperation and spread manuals of project prototypes for PPP schemes during CONBUSAC’s 14th Biennial Convention in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He discussed with Alberta Minister of Employment and Immigration Thomas Lukaszuk and Canadian firms interested to hire Boholano workers.
Plan is afoot for Lukaszuk’s second Philippine travel and first Bohol visit next year as Chatto and TBTK chairperson Betty Veloso-Garcia invited him to the 2012 Tigum Bol-anon sa Tibuok Kalibutan here in may next year
The prospect gets even brighter for skilled Boholanos to Alberta itself, Canada’s oil capital which parliament’s incumbent first Filipino member, Carl Benito, is married to a Boholana from Talibon. Benito and Philippine Consul General Esmeralda Agbulos themselves accompanied Chatto to the meeting with Lukaszuk. The governor got back here weekend and will detail the gains of his foreign working trip at the capitol monthly convocation tomorrow morning.
Meanwhile, the Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) would like to hear from the governor in an orientation on PPP organized by the influential group at Metro Centre here on Wednesday. Fresh in his second year, the governor will have a far more credible capitol upon which the business sector can look for a far more trusted partnership in several sustainable development fields.
BCCI President Marietta Gasatan assured Chatto of the business circle’s support to the government approach of harnessing private sector resources and expertise for infrastructure development thru PPP. The governor is happy for BCCI’s Partnership for Better Infrastructure (PBI) project, which musters the active participation of the business, community and civil society groups.
The Chatto administration with Vice Gov. Concepcion Lim shares the vision of the chamber of ensuring that crucial economic infrastructures are prioritized, budgeted, executed and finished.
In the CONBUSAC convention, overseas Boholanos were excited by the governor’s report of the penultimate phases to the concrete realization of the new Bohol airport pursuant to the PPP agenda of Pres. Benigno Aquino III.
The coming BCCI forum involves a lecture on PPP projects in the pipeline that includes the gigantic modern air terminal replacing the Tagbilaran City airport, one of the world’s most dangerous according to Japanese aviation experts.
The BCCI likes the governor to stay until Thursday, this time for a connectivity forum on Executive Order 29 or the open skies policy and its implications to local tourism.
PPP innovations are equally critical to this forum because the government and private sectors have to reevaluate air travel and tourism market developments.
The forum also explores the development of seamless connectivity and marine tourism loop.
In his CONBUSAC trip, tourism was another area explored by Chatto and Canadian officials, as well as partners based in the US, for potential exchanges not just economically beneficial to the Boholanos.
“Boholanos should not limit their vision to being nationally competitive. We ought to set our sight at getting globally competitive,” Chatto told the members of the biggest affiliation of Boholano groups in foreign lands.
He commended the organizers of the CONBUSAC convention led by then president Carlos Cagaanan, now the new vice president, and the host group, Edmonton Boholano Cultural Association (EBCA), headed by Alejandro Aurestila.
