This Year of the Lord 2006 marks the Ruby Anniversary (40 years) as a city - now the bustling capital gateway to the nation's preferred tourist destination.

From a sleepy town that then had calesas as major transportation mode and everyone under 20 years went home at six o'clock in the afternoon to pray the Angelus, this city has come a long way, Baby.

Tagbilaran's drapery turned town to cityhood during the term of the fiery, impassioned Mayor Venancio "Nanciong" Inting in July of 1966 during the first term of the late president Ferdinand Marcos.

It was not a walk in the park. It was a growth borne by the shoulders of all of the city executives that came and pass - from mayors Butalid, Rocha, and Torralba - through the highs and lows of public exigencies and service and every administration of varied political colors.

Growing a city is not a dash - but a marathon. Concentrated energy calibrated to bring one to the finish line - not a mad dash for the 100 meters, only to collapse thereafter from exhaustion - political or financial. To this, we are grateful to the men and women of the city governments that had helped shaped Tagbilaran into the sparkling city of friendship and warmth that it is today.

Ten years ago, Tagbilaran was biting the dust of her betters - like Dumaguete and Ormoc cities. Thereafter, the city streak like a meteor in the Visayan sky. Today it is not just a tourist city but well-governed and with relative peace and quiet despite her obvious strides in modernization and sophistication. The city is no longer any one's poor cousin.

What factors brought Tagbilaran's rise into a premier city?

Since we are an archipelago separated by water - an island like Bohol can only progress if the means of transportation (by air and sea) are adequate. Indeed how can tourism and commerce blossom without it?

Direct airplane flights from Manila pioneered by Asian Spirit and then the Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific. The sea craft front runners Bullet Express, Star Ruby and Supercat brought competition in like Sea Angels and Water Jet. That the "price war" resulted in the demise of three operators did not diminish the fact hat the volume of seafaring traffic is there - one just had to operate efficiently. The entry of late bloomers like the Oceanjet and the Weesam Express only served to bolster that argument.

Of course, one must not ignore the enormous lift the city got with the "tourist port" and airconditioned terminal at the city port through the expansion efforts of the Philippine Ports Authority. Our city airport is today a thriving hub of passengers (in and out) despite its many obvious limitations.

Transportation was followed by the timely entry of the cell sites for two modern telecommunication firms, namely, Globe and Smart that radically altered the face of business and personal communication. While before, owning a telephone line was a luxury, it seems everyone who can spell his name has a cellular phone in his pocket today.

But if there is one major proof that Tagbilaran has citified itself into nation's prominence is the existence of major shopping malls and world-class cinemas in the city. This healthy competition between two consumer geniuses in Marlito Uy of the Alturas Group and Frederick Ong, has brought the city into cosmopolitan heights we didn't expect to come in so short a time.

The wealthy Gaisanos of Cebu had long eyed Tagbilaran as their next target market and was seriously scouting for prime city lots for a Gaisano Mall. But the rapid "invasion" of the Henry Sy (Shoemart Group) and the John Gokongewei (Robinson Group) in Gaisano country in Cebu forced the latter to deploy its financial resources back into their home court. So the BQ Group went into an unprecedented expansion binge while Alturas installed Plaza Marcela at Cogon District and the stupendous Island City Mall in the uptown Dao-Dampas area - the biggest mall in the city to date.
Thus Tagbilaran City has become Marlito and Frederick's territorial grant - men reared in different types of business schooling - but each succeeding to bring the attention of famous national food chains and signature fashion citadels to flock to the city. This has perfumed the city with an aura of modernity that is anyway attractive to tourists of any stripe looking for rest and recreation.

One indeed does not create markets, one merely serves them what they want. And the establishment of various businesses and service-oriented firms in the city can only be magnetized by the demand spurred by the burgeoning tourism trade and the massive dollar inflows of many OFWs of which Bohol is also famous of.

Modern hotels and resorts, large residential houses and expensive cars seen in the city today are concrete evidence of prosperity in the city air. Booming, likewise, are appliance stores, pawnshops, banks, motorcycle dealers, pension houses, restaurants, travel agencies and land transport business.

But let us not sell our self short - the city is, as well, only as good as the people's warmth and hospitality. And on this score, let us not be afraid to take a bow.

But this "City of Friendship" symbolized by that sculptured replica of Datu Sikatuna and Admiral Legaspi in Bool district of this city will, of course, be best served when the problem of bad interior roads and drainage become a thing of the past.

There are clear plans today to transform the Agora "Eyesore" Market into a commercial venture and the erection of a modern Convention and Sports Center which should improve the city's skyline.
These are our fine Sunday thoughts as we welcome all our beloved visitors for tomorrow's city fiesta - May One - with a sunshine smile.