BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson prefers a fully reestablished Negros Island Region (NIR) than having two sub-regions in Negros Island proposed by Bacolod City’s Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez.
The first proposal is to reestablish the NIR through an executive order (EO) similar to the one made by then President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III back in 2015, while the second proposal is the creation of Region 6-A composed of Bacolod City and Negros Occidental, and Region 7-A composed of Dumaguete City and Negros Oriental.
According to Lacson, he is okay with Benitez’s two proposals, although he would very much prefer that NIR be reestablished fully composing the provinces of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.
“I’m just wondering if Albee is also in consultations with our legislators because our legislators and district representatives are focused on creating the NIR, so I’m not sure about the dynamics between our legislators,” Lacson said.
He further stated that creating the region through an EO would also be nice, but with the ultimate intention of the region being enacted into law.
Previously, a substitute bill seeking the reestablishment of the NIR was jointly submitted by Negros Occidental 1st District’s Cong. Gerardo Valmayor Jr., 2nd District’s Cong. Alfredo “Thirdy” Marañon III, 3rd District’s Cong. Jose Francisco “Kiko” Benitez, 4th District’s Cong. Juliet Ferrer, 5th District’s Cong. Emilio “Dino” Yulo, 6th District’s Cong. Mercedes “Cheding” Alvarez-Lansang, and Bacolod City Lone District’s Cong. Greg Gasataya.
The bill was also co-authored by lawmakers from Negros Oriental, and its counterpart bill in the Senate – Senate Bill 1236 – authored by Sen. JV Ejercito, has already hurdled the committee on local government in December of last year.
Despite the full support of almost all politicians in Negros and Siqujor, Negros Oriental’s Gov. Roel Degamo would later oppose the proposed law, pointing out the unequal voting within the Regional Development Council (RDC) meetings if the NIR was ever established, as well as the “cultural barrier” between the provinces.
However, Degamo did not fully reject the NIR outright as he forwarded a counter-proposal calling for the creation of a third province in Negros island to address an equal footing in the RDC before agreeing to the creation of the region./PN
