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BY MAE SINGUAY
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BACOLOD City – The Department of the Interior and Local Government will discuss with local leaders what to do to retain Negros Island Region (NIR).
Undersecretary Jesus V. Hinlo Jr. is leading today’s “NIR retention forum” at the Social Hall of the Negros Occidental provincial capitol at 9:30 a.m.
“We already have the formula. I already know what to do,” Hinlo told the press yesterday without elaborating.
The undersecretary supports the retention of the region.
Today “we want to listen first to the sentiments of local leaders,” said Hinlo. “After which I will make suggestions on how to convince the President.”
He is also confident Interior secretary Ismael Sueno, who he said had also been supportive of the NIR, will listen to the local leaders.
Malacañang had said President Rodrigo Duterte may soon sign the executive order (EO) dissolving the island region.
The NIR was created via EO No. 183. Then President Benigno Aquino III signed it on May 29, 2015.
Palace and Cabinet officials have cited “budget constraints” as reason for the planned dissolution.
With around P19 billion needed to maintain the new region, keeping the NIR is an “expensive exercise,” Budget secretary Benjamin Diokno said.
Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino first disclosed the plan to reporters in Cebu City./PN
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