Fishing Village shifts Bohol attraction from Panglao and Loboc to Inabanga

A new ecotourism site was opened to the public in Inabanga the other Saturday. I was not around as illness forced me to stay in the hospital but I was informed it's one that promises to build another tourist haven in Bohol .

Set in a place where one must first enjoy a river cruise before reaching it, the Inabanga Fishing Village promises a full day for the tourist enough to entice him or her to come back with friends and family. What makes the experience different from other resorts is that to reach it, one must enjoy a river cruise first that starts at the back of the St. Paul Church . The Inabanga river is an awesome one that can sometimes be daunting to river cruisers. Unlike the Loboc River Cruise where one is treated to a serene trip on blue water that could sometimes be canopied by overhanging branches of trees along the banks, the experience in Inabanga River is one that is full of adventure. Because the river is deep and wide the waves could sometimes be playful and the banks become mysterious. The anticipation of the thrill in the fishing village is heightened by the river cruise experience.

Catching ones own fish for meal is a feature that excites visitors and tourists. One cannot choose how big he or she wants for lunch and so the prospect of catching a big or a small one adds to the appetite for an early or late meal. The Inabanga Fishing Village is what Mayor Roygie Jumamoy is offering to visitors of Bohol who are tired of the “this again” or “that again” menu in our city restaurants and our beach resorts. Some people ask what future the new attraction will have considering its distance from the hub of business in Tagbilaran and the Tourism Island of Panglao. To that we have no doubt at all. If the Father of Bohol Tourism, the illustrious Atty. Anos Fonacier himself gives a thumbs up sign and contributes his resources to realize it, it could only mean that the project is an eco-tourism gold mine.

This fellow has a natural knack for what will click in the tourism industry. He won't celebrate his birthday there if he knows he could not win a bet anytime. I am just curious though. Was celebrating his birthday in Inabanga just a simple accommodation of Mayor Roygie's wish? Or was there any deeper reason? Like it's one way of expressing dismay over what is happening at Panglao Municipality ?

Atty. Fonacier never hid his disappointment over how the tourism industry is going in Panglao. Atty. Fonacier is a pioneer and the biggest investor in tourism in Panglao. But the way the municipal government is treating him is far from an expression of appreciation. In fact there was a time when the municipal government wanted him to close the Bohol Beach Club (BBC) when Mayor Doloreich Dumaluan claimed there was an old cemetery in the middle of the BBC property. To insist on the preposterous is a form of harassment. And oh, while we are it, I have information that Sec. Angelo T. Reyes of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is coming this Tuesday to Bohol . I wonder what his reaction will be when he would be told that his closure order of the Dumaluan Resort was just something to laugh about. Why, the resort has never stopped operating. PENRO Inting should have a really good alibi to escape what I think will be the Secretary's reaction.

NOTES. Who says this world has run out of honest people? Children have remained an honest sector. Last Thursday my son lost his cellphone and did not know when, where and how he lost it. I have heard of many stories of lost cellphone that were never recovered. And so I did not think my son's would be different. But when my wife tried to call the phone, lo and behold, an angelic voice answered to say that her son picked up the phone on the floor of a multicab and that she and her son would return it early morning now that she knew who the owner is. That changed my whole perspective of honesty among people today. Our profound thanks to Dodong Donghil, a high school student of the University of Bohol and his parents for living the value of honesty. May your tribe increase.