As Bohol strengthens its position as one of the Philippines’ leading tourism destinations, a growing focus on community preparedness is adding another dimension to the province’s tourism story: keeping residents and visitors safe around the water.
Bohol welcomed 1.43 million tourist arrivals in 2025, a 4.18% increase from the previous year, according to the Bohol Provincial Tourism Office. Panglao, one of the province’s major tourism hubs, also drew more than 62,000 visitors during the 2025 Christmas long break alone.
With thousands of visitors drawn to the province’s beaches, resorts, diving sites, island activities, and coastal communities, Bell-Kenz Pharma brought its flagship advocacy. Sagip CPR closer to the people who live and work in these tourism environments.
Held at the Panglao Cultural Center on September 21, the Sagip CPR initiative gathered fisherfolk, persons with disabilities, disaster risk reduction and management officers, barangay health workers, solo parents, and other community members from Panglao and Dauis for training in emergency response and drowning prevention.
The initiative goes beyond teaching CPR. It highlights a critical tourism principle: a destination’s safety is strengthened when its own communities are prepared to respond to emergencies.
Participants underwent Hands-Only CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) training, along with a drowning prevention module based on the Drowning Chain of Survival. The module covered five critical actions—from preventing drowning and recognizing distress to calling for help, providing flotation, safely removing a person from the water, and providing appropriate care.
Making Safety Part of the Tourism Experience
For a province whose tourism identity is closely tied to the sea, preparedness around water is particularly relevant.
Panglao and Dauis are home not only to tourism establishments and attractions, but also to families, fisherfolk, workers, and communities whose daily lives are intertwined with the same waters enjoyed by visitors.
“Tourism and safety must go hand in hand,” said Patrick Larraga, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Head of Bell-Kenz Pharma. “Through Sagip CPR, we want to help communities become more prepared to respond when an emergency happens. When residents are equipped with life-saving knowledge, they become an important part of creating safer and more prepared destinations for everyone.”
The need for such preparedness is underscored by national data. The Philippine Statistics Authority recorded 955 deaths from accidental drowning and submersion in 2025 based on data processed as of September 30, 2025, making drowning prevention an important public-safety concern in a country surrounded by water.
From Tourist Attraction to Tourism-Ready Community
The Sagip CPR initiative puts the spotlight on an often-overlooked component of destination development: the people behind the destination.
Hotels, beaches, restaurants, dive operators, transport providers, and attractions are important to tourism—but so are the communities that live alongside them.
By building basic emergency-response knowledge among residents and local stakeholders, initiatives such as Sagip CPR can help make safety awareness part of everyday life in tourism communities.
For Bohol, this is especially timely as the province continues to expand its tourism economy and strengthen its international profile. The Bohol-Panglao International Airport handled 2.22 million passengers in 2025, underscoring the scale of travel activity flowing into the province.
The message is clear: as more people discover Bohol, preparedness must grow alongside tourism.
Sagip CPR’s rollout in Panglao and Dauis demonstrates how community-based preparedness can complement broader tourism efforts—helping create destinations where visitors can experience the beauty of Bohol while communities are better equipped to respond when emergencies happen.
For more information about Bell-Kenz Sagip CPR, visit www. bell-kenz.net.
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