BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has deferred to the Supreme Court’s judgment regarding the petition against the newly enacted Negros Island Region (NIR) law, officially known as Republic Act 12000.
The challenge, filed by six petitioners from Negros Oriental and Siquijor, seeks a temporary restraining order (TRO) to halt the law’s implementation.
Rev. Father Hendrix Alar, Lina Eparwa, Wilfredo Magallano, Marcelino Maxino, Jose Imaculado Palmitos, and Grace Sumalpong have also requested a writ of preliminary injunction and a status quo ante order to revert to the region’s previous configuration prior to the NIR Law’s enactment.
The petitioners argue that the NIR’s revival was executed without the requisite public consultations and did not follow standard legislative procedures.
They further claim that the law was never submitted to a plebiscite as mandated by the Constitution.
“There has been no NIR in the constitutionally appended ordinance, as Western Visayas and Central Visayas were already defined and ratified by the people in a plebiscite,” the petitioners stated.
Governor Lacson remarked that while some believe the NIR could disadvantage Negros Oriental and Siquijor, others view the unification of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor under one administrative region as beneficial.
Supporting the lawful establishment of the NIR, Negros Occidental 5th District’s Cong. Dino Yulo and 6th District’s Cong. Mercedez Alvarez both asserted that no laws were breached during the legislation’s passage.
“As the Philippines is a democratic country, anyone can file a petition in the Supreme Court. It is prudent to await the decision of the higher court,” said Lacson.
The petitioners expressed concerns that removing Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor from their respective regions to form NIR would significantly disrupt the regional organizational framework, forcing residents to adapt to a new administrative grouping with which they share little historical or cultural affinity.
The plea for judicial intervention aims to prevent the implementation of what the petitioners describe as an “unconstitutional act.”
Republic Act 12000, signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on June 13, aims to unite the three provinces under one administrative region. This reestablishes the NIR, which was initially created in 2015 by Executive Order 183 under former President Benigno Aquino III and later dissolved in 2017 by former President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order 38 purportedly due to lack of funds./PN
