After the 2013 Bohol earthquake, the Loboc church and the Spanish colonial fortifications of Punta Cruz and Dauis were removed from the UNESCO tentative list. Panglao Island was also removed because the planned international airport is thought to compromise the biological diveristy of the place. Hence, the once potential "Heritage Complex of Bohol Island" was reduced to only two properties - the Chocolate Hills and the Anda, Bohol petrographs.

No doubt about it, the Chocolate Hills is a geological wonder! At any angle, it commands attention. In 2012, two friends and I visited the park. While the view deck is a "must visit" spot, the chat with a local farmer living at the foot the hills was the highlight. He said he grew up inside the geologic park, as a kid would run up and down the hills with his friends during summer (when the hills are Hersheys chocolate brown). He even claimed to have burned a whole hill for "fun."

Whether or not the Chocolate Hills will soon be nominated for inscription is IMO, no big matter. It is already and will always be one of the Philippines' icon, a natural gem.