Zoilo ‘Bingo’ Dejaresco III l July 31, 2024 l Business Mirror
INADEQUATE power facilities have often stymied Bohol’s tremendous tourism potential for the past two decades.
For instance, Bohol plunged into total darkness after the 2013 earthquake and the Yolanda super typhoon when submarine cables from its Leyte submarine cable power interconnection power source went kaput. There were no alternative power sources.
The province would sometimes wait for weeks for power to return to normal.
Yet, Bohol tourism in 2023 showed P75 billion in total receipts which was pivotal in bringing Bohol’s GDP (gross domestic product) 2023 growth rate to 7.1 percent, way above the national average. Tourist arrivals in 2023 also broke above the one million barrier, a 313 percent rise from the 2022 numbers.
“Revenge local travel” and the three daily flights from Korea to Bohol pushed tourism demand and Bohol’s power needs to escalate from 90 megawatts (MW) to 130 MW—creating a shortfall in supply.
Also, recently, the National Economic and Development Authority approved the P4.3-billion expansion of the Panglao-Bohol International Airport, which will increase its carrying capacity from 2 to 2.5 then eventually to 4 million passengers.
And the future even looks brighter. According to a survey by Leechiu Property Consultants Inc. of 10,000 hotel room potential investors, Bohol is the No. 1 desired place to set up hotels by investors garnering a 41-percent preference. Even eclipsing Manila (second) at 39 percent and Siargao at 36 percent. Currently, Bohol is finishing 1,790 additional rooms. Boracay has dismally fallen to No. 6 at 2 percent due to its engineered shift to focus on local tourists only.
It is a “progressive shift” according to astute hotel owners.
Power response
BUT just in the nick of time, the National Grid Corp. recently announced the beginning of the Cebu-Bohol P19-billion 230-kilovolt (kV) interconnection facility. The Dumanjug -Corella-Maribojoc connection by submarine cable will translate to at least an additional 600 MW and at 1,200 full capacities.
Further good news. The Cebu-Bohol grid will also ease the congestion of the Leyte-Bohol 138-kV interconnection, which will translate into eventual lower power costs in Bohol.
When it rains, it pours. This time, with more power supply from private sources, allaying the fears of an impending power shortage expressed by Energy Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara. The Yuchengo-led Petrogreen Energy Corp., for instance, is starting its 27-MW solar power project in San Vicente, Dagohoy.
Also actively pursuing energy projects in Bohol is the Energy Development Corp. (EDC), a leading renewable energy group, which will help ensure Bohol has more than adequate power in the next 10 years.
While multi-billion pesos remittances from overseas Filipino workers have been increasing, mainly from seamen, it has been tourism that has always been Bohol’s flagship industry providing livelihood to its growing 1.4 million population.
*** Zoilo P. Dejaresco III, a former banker, is a financial consultant media practitioner and author. He is a Life and Media member of the Financial Executives Intitute of the Philippines (Finex). His views here, however, are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of Finex and the BusinessMirror. Email dejarescobingo@yahoo.com. Photo from Pinterest.