Bohol

This country where Earth is constantly active, giving rise to stunning dramatic landscapes.

From the iconic Perfect Cone Mayon volcano to the world-famous Chocolate Hills of Bohol, the country's geography is testament to the power of forces that created it.

The stunning landscape, however, is not just for show – they are the home to some of the planet's most biodiverse ecosystems, featuring unique species found nowhere else on Earth.

The Philippines is a global biodiversity hotspot, which is a nice way to say it is critically important to the planet's health and also one of the most threatened.

Thank you for lending an ear to the voice of the times for Wednesday, September sixteenth, twenty twenty-six.

For today's editorial: Is PH pricing itself out of tourism market? An online debate over the weekend, initiated by a complaint posted by a resident of Bohol about an overpriced meal, has drawn public attention to what some wish was merely an ugly stereotype of the Philippines, but unfortunately seems to be reality far too often for many visitors.

Price gouging of tourists does happen, or is at least perceived to happen, and it is an issue that needs to be firmly addressed.

The original complainant related that she had gone with her family to a local restaurant in the Panglao area of Bohol and was charged P one comma six fifty for a dinner consisting of one small fried pompano fish, a price she considered grossly excessive.

Many netizens agreed, with some pointing out that sort of fish, particularly in Bohol where they are abundant, only costs P two hundred to P three hundred, and that the prepared meal was probably twice what it should have cost.

Other commenters, some natives of Bohol and others who have visited the island province in the past, also shared their stories of being overcharged for various things such as food, transportation, and basic services.

The stories eventually expanded to include other parts of the Philippines as well, and highlighted that foreign visitors seem particularly at risk of being overcharged in what is sardonically dubbed the skin tax, where vendors and service providers charge one price for Filipino customers and a higher price for obvious foreigners.

Tourism is a particularly sensitive issue for Bohol because it is a cornerstone of the local economy and has suffered a severe downturn in the last year, worse than any other tourism area in the Philippines.

And where my mom's from.

So my mom's from Bohol.

It's a different region.

Different, I would say, yeah, different region of Philippines.