June 10, 2026 l Business Mirror
We always wondered why Tagbilaran City, the capital City of Bohol—the only Unesco Geopark island in the country—seems deserted by nine in the evening.
That’s about the time the last full show of the movie houses end and it seems people have nowhere to go. No more restaurants, bars, ballroom dance floor or bands playing except for one or two.
It seems the city has lost “by default” to the nearby tourist island of Panglao, where the “action” is: food and entertainment. The province, one of the most preferred tourist destinations, is contemplating building two more bridges from the mainland to Panglao. Sadly, those two can become a one-way affair: people going to Panglao and hardly the other way to the city.
Hopping on a two-hour ferry to nearby Dumaguete City, we were forced to compare the cities, which have almost identical endemic populations of about 140,000.
Dumaguete is a beautiful city for retirement. The air is fresh, helped by giant acacia trees and other fauna that litter the streets—preserved by design by an environmentally-conscious government for decades. It is one of the cities with the coolest temperatures, as a result. Its main thoroughfare is the splendid, long stretch of Rizal Boulevard set against a sparkling crystal-blue seawater. There is a long collage of eateries that operate till late nights and with very reasonable prices compared to Tagbilaran and even Cebu cities.
And there is entertainment.
Most of the leading Manila-based food franchises are there, as well. Sylvanas and sans rival are the city’s staple “pasalubongs.” There must be so much money in circulation in Dumaguete City.
The key element in the city’s progress is the presence of 30 ICT-BPOs, hiring about 15,000 people; their lowest rank and file staff are paid the minimum regional daily wage thrice. Statistics show that ICT-BPO salaries alone contribute P300 million monthly to the city’s business artery or P3.6 billion a year. The city has the infrastructure, digital sophistication, an easier cost of living, and a platoon of competent graduates.
The competent talents are sourced out not only from the campuses of the five other cities in Negros Oriental (Bayawan, Bais, Tanjay, Sibulan and Kanlaon) but the city itself, which has four big universities: Silliman, Negros State University, Saint Paul University, and Foundation University. The city is a virtual “University Town.”
In fact, during the day, some 300,000 out-of-town workers and businessmen add to the 140,000 residents of the city, creating a voracious demand for food, goods, and services. The city also benefits from the operational unification via the “One Negros” law, ensuring a bigger infrastructure budget from the national government. It also has its “on-island” source of power through the geothermal source in Valencia, just off the city.
What people also forget is that Negros Oriental itself is a tourist destination, not as well-advertised as neighboring Bohol, but it has its charms.
In 2025, tourism receipts in Negros Oriental registered P13.3 billion in receipts after a tremendous surge in tourist numbers, from 2024’s 528,888 to 2025’s 954,000. This is not counting the 273,000 tourists who use Dumaguete City as a jump-off point to the nearby attractive Siquijor island, now bursting at the seams with resorts and restaurants. Some of them stay for a day or an overnight in the city before going to Siquijor.
There are 13 trips daily to Siquijor (5 Ocean Jet, 5 Montenegro, and 3 StarCraft) from Dumaguete.
The known tour spots in Negros Oriental are: Apo Island, Valencia Casaron Falls, Bais City Majuyod Whit Sand Beaches, Valencia Hot Springs, Twin Lakes Nature Bay, Mount Talmes (trekking), and Mabinay Cave (cave capital of the Philippines). On the other hand, Siquijor has the following tourist magnets: (Falls): Cambuganay, Lagaan and Lugnason; (beaches)—Salagdoon and Palitan; (Marine Sanctuaries)—Tubod, Talapos and Cantabor Cave.
For many years, the city had also benefited from the above-board management of former Mayor E, Remollo, who is one of the founding members of the Mayors for Good Governance.
Dumaguete is a clean city with huge consumer demand and an inexpensive culinary discovery.
***The views expressed herein are his own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of his office as well as FINEX. For comments, email bingo8dejaresco@gmail.com. Photo is from Pinterest.