AT LAST  BOHOLANOS residing in the various provinces, some  of them even excelling in their respective businesses and professions can now find a reunion they can call “their own”.

Truly- because for decades, these Boholanos who want to be part of a grand reunion for them had always felt as “second-class citizens” whenever they come home for the TBTK (Tigum Bol-anon sa Tibuok Kalibutan). They sensed that the event which happens in Bohol after every three years is especially made just for the “balikbayans” from abroad, those bringing “green money” to pay the resorts, hotels and restaurants.

Now, it’s a welcome development that the provincial governance under the stewardship of the Sandugo Foundation is now launching an annual TBTP (Tigum Bol-anon Tibuok Pilipinas).  This is a brilliant idea for our “paisanos” to feel verily at home during the Sandugo celebration.

It is not necessarily affirming the “ija-ija, aho-aho” mentality but just the right way to loosen up and party with our province mates who have been residing in the various provinces.  We also know that several of our “paisanos” are doing well and we want to be edified by the stories leading to their road to success.

We recalled it was then DOT Sec. Dick Gordon who introduced the “Bring Home a Friend” campaign for Filipinos to invite their friends and associates to come home with them as the local version of the “balikbayans.”

This time, we would enthuse our “paisanos” to tag along their business associates who have yet to see what Bohol has to offer. This TBTP is in fact a support to what former DOT Sec. Ace Durano did in encouraging Filipinos to first see their nice destinations before going abroad.  This he experienced himself as DOT top honcho when he first visited Bohol as a tourist. Despite being just from nearby Cebu, the former DOT official confessed it was his sin of omission in not seeing the potentials of Bohol first-hand.

A week after his visit, the whole Durano clan came for the first time and then became constant ambassadors of goodwill for Bohol. That’s what TBTP can also do once our “paisanos” from the 90 other provinces will come home this July and join the first episode of TBTP.  As programmed, we will do the TBTP yearly and joins up every third year with the TBTK.

While Boholanos are known to come home during the fiesta month of May, starting this year they can make July  worthy of  another big reason to come home. In the pipeline are new activities such as the “Kuradang” dance in the streets, the Sandugo Song Festival, the Product Showcase, the Agri Fair and the search for Miss Bohol.

This time, the tourism industry players will be on top of the attraction as resorts and hotels will be offering  magnificent discounts in their rooms, plus additional incentives once their guests would be out in the streets to join the “Kuradang” street dance.

The launching of TBTP will be grand one during the Bohol Day celebration on July 21. Famous Boholano showbiz personalities will be invited to grace the launching. In fact, they will be the TBTP endorsers during their exposures in national media interviews.

With the launching of TBTP, The Bohol Chronicle Radio Corp. will be at the forefront of bringing the gap between them and home-Bohol. In fact, as a prelude to its launching, this paper is opening up a section in this paper and in the social media where Boholanos, in any part of the country can send in their views, opinions and news about the various Boholano groups in the country.  This TBTP will tighten the bonds of the Bol-anons, as we call ourselves.

It is noteworthy that the distance between the home and our “paisanos” is no longer that far since our sister station  dyRD pioneered live streaming for radio in Bohol almost 10 years ago and The Bohol Chronicle likewise started its having a website for the Boholanos to know the latest happenings in the province.

Now, we are enhancing these linkages which modesty aside, we pioneered. In fact, dyRD-AM is the only Bohol station that can be downloaded from APs making it so easy to keep in touch with “home” through their cellular phones in any part of the globe while Kiss-Fm is also on worldwide streaming.

Despite the heat of the political battles raging all over, there is always time to get that one minute text, an email perhaps or a call to long-lost “paisanos” from the other provinces- cordially inviting them to be here for a well-deserved respite from the mudslinging and heartaches of politics.

Home is always where our heart is. Remember the dates in July.

For comments: email to dejarescobingo@yahoo.com or bohol-rd@mozcom.com