BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The Negros Island Region (NIR) is a step closer to its reestablishment.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson was in high spirits after the NIR bill’s passage on second reading at the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The proposed new region would include the provinces of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.
Currently, Negros Occidental is part of Region 6 (Western Visayas) while Negros Oriental and Siquijor are part of Region 7 (Central Visayas).
The bill only needed to hurdle the third and final reading before being forwarded to the Senate.
Following the latest development, Lacson is now adamant about the bill becoming law. Majority of the senators, he said, are supportive of the Negros region’s reestablishment.
The governor hinted the NIR bill may be signed into law this year, adding it would be a nice Christmas gift to the Negrenses.
However, Lacson said Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo has yet to get in touch with him, although he would give his counterpart a call soon.
Earlier, the two Negros governors met in Dumaguete City, with Lacson hoping to change Degamo’s mind and support reestablishing the region.
Degamo reasoned his opposition to an “equal footing” within the Regional Development Council (RDC), as well as the “cultural divide” between Negrenses from the Occidental and Oriental sides.
Instead, he counter-proposed the establishment of another province in Negros to address the “equal footing” issue. It raised eyebrows among local politicians.
A suggestion was also made to hand over the RDC’s chairmanship to Degamo should the NIR be signed into law, as well as satisfy his demands for equal footing.
The Negros Island Region Act of 2022, or Senate Bill 1236, already cleared the committee on local government in December last year.
NIR was first established through an executive order issued by then President Benigno Aquino III in 2015. But it was dissolved by his successor, then President Rodrigo Duterte, in 2017 due to the high cost of maintaining the region./PN
