New Zealand PM Helen Hunt hies off to Pamilacan Island with Environment Sec. Angelo T. Reyes, and Bohol officials led by Gov. Erico B. Aumentado and Rep. Edgardo M. Chatto. PM Hunt went to Pamilacan Island to visit the Pamilacan Island Marine Tour, which was funded by the New Zealand government.

THE fire’s burning.

Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado, thus, commented on the relations of the Republic of the Philippines and New Zealand following the bilateral talks of the two women-leaders representing both countries last March 14.

The white-sand beach of Panglao Island and the calm pristine sea proved idyllic for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Prime Minister Helen Clark to talk about counter-terrorism, trade and environment over mango shake and puto-maya while in the shade of a cogon-thatched beach “umbrella.” Puto-maya is glutinous rice steamed in ginger and coconut milk.

Hotelier Anos Fonacier, who owns Bohol Beach Club and who already received the Department of Tourism’s (DOT’s) Kalakbay Lifetime Achievement Award, would go down in history as host of the first-ever state visit to the Philippines by a sovereign held outside of Metro Manila.

From the beachside umbrella, the two moved to the Tarsier Function Room where photographers of local, national and foreign papers took it away. No tape recorders were allowed.

Secretaries Alberto Romulo of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Peter Favila of Trade and Industry (DTI) later briefed the press on what transpired inside the room.

Romulo said on the 40th year of the two countries’ relations, President Arroyo and Clark talked about defense and maritime security, exchange programs for the police and defense attaches, reforestation projects in Bukidnon and elsewhere in the Philippines, and trade.

Clark was fresh from the Interfaith dialogue at the Shangri-La Mactan Island Resort and Spa in Cebu that morning and flew in to Tagbilaran City by Lear jet at 2:30 p.m.
President Arroyo came in later at 4:25 p.m. straight to Panglao by helicopter after the Interfaith Dialogue and a Cabinet meeting.

Having attended the dialogue, Clark suggested the conduct of a similar activity especially in Mindanao where the people still feel strongly about their respective religions and culture, Romulo said.

The prime minister had fine points to say on the interfaith dialogue as half of the 30 percent non-Europeans among her people are native Maui, and the other half, Moslems and people of other religions, Chinese and even Filipinos.

For his part, Favila said trade relations between the two countries have grown rapidly in the past five years. On top of television and electronic spare parts, he said agricultural products like banana and pineapple, and even cellular phones have bright futures in New Zealand.

Another point to pursue is the Philippines’ bid as an alternative distribution plant for New Zealand dairy products. That country is about to conclude Free Trade Agreements with Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Sweden even as it is in the final phase of talks on the World Trade Organization (WTO) with Geneva [Switzerland], he quoted the prime minister as saying.

Favila also said although there were no specifics yet, the two heads of state already mentioned developing Lake Sebu in Cotabato, as well as more exchange scholarships for the police “like we had in August,”

“I will convene the Provincial Development Council [PDC] this week to endorse two major projects to President Arroyo for funding by New Zealand – eco-tourism development of Banacon Island off Getafe and the Carood Watershed Reforestation Project,” said Aumentado.

Banacon is home to the biggest – at 1,700 hectares – man-made mangrove plantation in Southeast Asia. The nearby islands of Jagoliao and Nasingin now have caught up with the reforestation drive.

The governor said boardwalks along the water highways will definitely attract more tourists.

Meanwhile, the Carood Watershed supports the irrigation systems of the Bohol Irrigation Project Stages 1 and 2, in Malinao, Pilar and Bayongan, San Miguel respectively, the Capayas Irrigation Facility, the small reservoir irrigation projects (SRIPs) in Ilaya, Gabayan, Canawa, Tambongan, Inaghuban and Cayacay and the waterworks needs of Ubay, Mabini, Candijay, Guindulman, Pilar and Alicia towns.
Aumentado sees reforestation of denuded timberland and even alienable and disposable lands as the ultimate and long-term solution to the extended dry spell broght about by the El Niño that always hits the northeastern Bohol basin the hardest.

These projects are on top of existing one he said. New Zealand has funded the Pamilacan Island Marine Tour that converted predators of whale sharks (balilan), dolphins and manta rays (sanga) into protectors, still spotting for these creatures but this time for tourists to feast their eyes on.

It also funded the conservation, preservation, enhancement and protection of the Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape – Bohol’s last stand of natural forest – that spans the towns of Loboc, Bilar, Batuan, Carmen, Sierra Bullones, Garcia-Hernandez and Valencia towns, as well as the study of Bohol’s karst or limestone soil formation conducted by Dr. Peter Urich of the University of Waikato in Wellington, New Zealand.

Apart from this, the university is an El Niño-La Niña tracking station so that Urich has been giving the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC) advance information on the extreme dry and wet spells to alert Boholanos against natural disasters, Aumentado said. (By: June S. Blanco PGMA-Bohol)