BACOLOD City – Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran believes it is “best time” for the revival of the Negros Island Region amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
This move will hasten measures and bolster the fight of the two provinces – Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental – against the fast-spreading illness, according to the city official.
He pointed out that the current crisis has exposed the need for regional offices for the two negros provinces.
Familiaran, who also chairs the city’s Inter-Agency Task Force against COVID-19 said “having regional offices would make it easier for local government units to follow up on their concerns since the offices will have their own funding.”
He even pointed out that in the current regional setup; Negros and Bacolod are the last provinces to receive aid, even when it comes to equipment and supplies needed to combat COVID-19, which is being forwarded by the national government.
The NIR was created on May 29, 2015 after then-President Benigno Aquino III signed an executive order for the region’s creation.
However, the region was dissolved by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017 after then-Department of Budget and Management Secretary Benjamin Diokno quoted the cost of the region’s retention at P19 billion./PN
