BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental is not yet ready for the “Balik Probinsya” program of the government which is aimed at decongesting the National Capital Region and promotes more robust regional development.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said the provincial government needs at least two years of preparation to fully implement the program.
“We need to establish more jobs first for Negrenses from the National Capital Region (NCR) who will be repatriated back to the province as part of the program,” Lacson told DYHB RMN-Bacolod in a radio interview Friday morning.
He pointed out that more jobs should be made in the province which would be made available for returning Negrenses, aside from the agricultural and business process outsourcing sector.
Following the program’s establishment earlier this month, over 33,000 residents in Metro Manila signed up for the program, which aims to decongest the NCR.
Under Executive Order No. 114, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte, the program aims to ensure balanced regional development and equitable distribution of wealth, resources and opportunities through policies and programs that boost countryside development and inclusive growth; provide adequate social services; and promote full employment, industrialization and an improved quality of life in rural areas.
The program is also part of the ongoing efforts by the government to stop the coronavirus pandemic./PN
