Bohol to develop Loon town port for int’l cruise

CEBU, Philippines - Being identified as an ideal place for international cruise ship destination in the country, the Province of Bohol has vowed to develop the quake-damaged port of Loon town.

The Loon port development project is a three-phase venture which first phase was finished last year.

“The port of Loon has already been identified by the Philippine Ports Authority as ideal for cruise ships. In fact, we were already in phase one of the development project when the earthquake happened,” said Bohol Governor Edgardo Chatto.

The project was destroyed by the strong earthquake that jolted and affected the western portion of Bohol province leaving the project to start from scratch.

”We were supposed to start the second phase but this was destroyed by the earthquake. So we had start again,” Chatto said.

The PPA is set to start the rehabilitation of port on March until next year, said Chatto.

Moreover, a road concreting project with a new route specifically intended for tourism boost is underway.

“There has been long range planning in terms of developing that portion. There will be new concrete road projects from the Loon international cruise ship port going straight to Chocolate Hills in Carmen,” the governor said.

The first international luxury cruise ship port of call since the destructive earthquake in October visited Bohol last Saturday signaling the bouncing back of tourism in one of top destinations in the Philippines.

MS Europa 2 of Hapag Lloyd brought 280 passengers, 180 of whom availed of the countryside excursion including a trip to Chocolate Hills, Abatan and Loboc River Cruise, and Panglao Island tour.  (FREEMAN)