MikeLigalig.com

By Bohol Chronicle

Visitors to the Chocolate Hills can now enjoy an unimpeded panoramic view of the world famous hills after souvenir shops located at the edge of one of the hills ordered demolished by Carmen Mayor "Cheche" Toribio Delos Reyes.

The demolition order came after Mayor "Cheche" reached the end of her patience after owners of the souvenir shops broke their own self imposed deadlines to voluntarily transfer their shops to an area at the foot of the chocolate hill.

A crew from the Municipal Engineer's Office started demolishing some six structures last Thursday.
       
Mayor Delos Reyes told DYRD "Inyong Alagad" that the owners of the souvenir shops were informed about the beautification plans of the Chocolate Hill as early as the last quarter of 2010.

The souvenir shop operators requested for time to wind down their operation up to January 15, 2011 which the Mayor granted.

But after the lapse of the deadline the souvenir operators again requested for an extension ostensibly to accommodate visitors coming over from the Sinulog in Cebu.

According to the Mayor, she put her foot down on their extension request and told them to vacate their shops and transfer at the foot of the hill.
         
Mayor Delos Reyes bared her plans to do away with structures that has been an eyesore for so many years.

Comments from visitors revealed that the location of the souvenir shops blocked what could have been an unhampered view of the scenic Carmen landscape.

The remaining structures are the restaurant and the hotel which are managed by the LGU.

The run down old hostel has also been torn down.

Plans for an pavilion where entertainment can be staged and a spacious lounging area, and a coffee shop with umbrellas outside will be constructed within February for tourists to have ample time to relax while visiting the scenic Chocolate Hills.

With an average of a thousand daily visitors, Mayor "Cheche" is bent on turning the Chocolate Hill into a destination that would lure visitors to linger longer after viewing the more than the thousand chocolate shaped hills.

She told the Chronicle that she intends to complete this face lifting of the Chocolate Hills complex before summer time this year. The lady mayor said this is her way of paying tribute to all those who were behind the construction of the complex .

It maybe recalled that the Chocolate Hills Complex was constructed during the term of the late Gov. Lino Chatto under the chairmanship of the late Chronicle editor-publisher Jun Dejaresco who was commissioned to spearhead the project assisted by then Prov'l Development Officer Archt. Venerando "Dadong" Dumadag and project chief, the late Archt. Fabian Cabagnot. The complex was completed during the term of then Department of Tourism Sec. Jose Aspiras. The group has to blast the sides of the talent hill for the road pavement in order to bring tourists to a viewdeck where they can take a panoramic view of the thousands of Chocolate hills in Central Bohol. The group completed the construction hostel, a tennis court and a swimming poll plus the more than hundred concrete step to the view deck.

Under Mayor "Cheche" plan to uplift the complex, the old 8-room hostel was demolished except for the swimming pool. A new two-storey hotel with a function room at the ground floor was constructed some few years ago during the incumbency of then DOT Sec. Dick Gordon.

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