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BY TIFFANY ANNE TAN
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Friday, December 16 2016
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BACOLOD City – Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. called on Negrenses to include the retention of Negros Island Region in their Christmas wishes.
He made the public appeal as he rallied for support against President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to abolish the island region.
The President’s Cabinet will discuss the region’s fate next month, said Marañon.
He claimed the number of Cabinet members supporting the region is “increasing.”
“Ga-amat-amat na damò ang secretaries nga mabulig sa aton,” said the governor.
He reminded Negrenses to continue praying and “idugang sa ila Christmas wishes kay Santa Claus [ang retention sang island region].”
Malacañang and Cabinet officials have said President Duterte was set to sign an executive order (EO) dissolving EO No. 183, which created Negros Region in May 2015, but no such EO was signed as of this writing.
Aside from the lack of budget, the officials cited the planned federalism of the Philippines — a thrust of the Duterte administration — that may change the current grouping of local governments.
Marañon said he will ask the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to prepare presentations on Negros Region in case the Cabinet needs them and “para masanagan ang iban nga Cabinet members.”
They have yet to decide on the content of the presentations, he said.
GUV AND NEDA
When Negros officials were still pushing for the conversion of the island into a region, Marañon scoffed at the NEDA for opposing the plan.
“Wala pulos ang NEDA (is useless),” the governor said in 2014. “If I were the president, I will abolish it.”
Ro-Ann Bacal, director for the NEDA Region 6, where Negros Occidental belongs at the time, questioned the motive. “Are there matters not being attended to at the moment?” she had asked.
As early as August 2013, Bacal had warned that creating the island region will not come cheap.
Setting up a new region needs the creation of new regional offices for all national government agencies, “the whole gamut of it,” she had said.
“Wala labot ang NEDA diri. Iya ni concern sang Negros (This is none of the NEDA’s business. This is Negros’ concern),” Marañon had said. “The cost of the new region will be covered by the local governments and the congressmen of the two provinces.”
‘50-50’
In November Department of the Interior and Local Government undersecretary Jesus Hinlo Jr. admitted the region’s status remains uncertain.
“50-50” was how he described it. “I do not want to speculate,” Hinlo said. “The President keeps his cards close to his chest.”
But Hinlo assured that “we have friends in the Cabinet. It will be a Christmas gift to Negrenses if the President retains the region.”/PN
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