BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – The exit of Negros Occidental province from Western Visayas would have a significant impact on the region’s economic figures, warned the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA).
Negros Occidental is part of the proposed Negros Island Region (NIR), the approval of which would mean the province would be leaving Western Visayas.
“It could reduce (the region’s economic performance) by almost 40 percent,” said Nelida Amolar, PSA Region 6 officer-in-charge, during a recent press briefing on the economic performance of Western Visayas for 2023.
Amolar cited the huge contributions of Negros Occidental, particularly Bacolod City, to the region’s economic growth.
“For now, let it be that Region 6 is a trillionaire while NIR is yet to be implemented,” said Amolar.
The PSA-6 reported that Western Visayas was the second fastest-growing regional economy in the country last year.
The economy of Region 6, which comprised the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental, grew by 7.2 percent in 2023. This translated to the total value of the region’s economy at P1.024 trillion.
Likewise, Western Visayas topped the regional economies with a 6.5 percent per capita growth rate. Central Visayas posted the fastest growth at 7.3 percent in 2023, while the Ilocos Region was third at 7.1 percent.
These three regions exhibited higher growths than the national level growth rate.
Gross Capital Formation in Western Visayas posted the fastest growth at 12.9 percent, followed by CALABARZON at 9.65 percent, and Cagayan Valley at 9.58 percent.
Household spending in Western Visayas grew by 5.8 percent in 2023. The 2023 growth, however, was a bit slower compared to the 9.3 percent recorded in 2022.
Exports of goods and services to the rest of the world grew the fastest at 13.2 percent. This was followed by gross capital formation which grew by 12.2 percent.
The region experienced significant growth in various sectors including accommodation and food service, transportation and storage, construction, public administration, and defense, among others.
But the same sectors in the region such as agriculture, forestry, and training slowed down the region’s economic expansion. Western Visayas shared 4.9 percent of the national gross domestic product among 17 regions in the country. Western Visayas topped the regional economies with a 6.5 percent per capita growth rate.
The Senate recently passed on the third and final reading of Senate Bill No. 2507, otherwise known as Negros Island Region Act.
Under Senate Bill No.2507, the proposed Negros Island Region will be composed of the provinces of Negros Occidental, including the City of Bacolod, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor.
To recall, the NIR was a short-lived administrative region in the Philippines, consisting of the islands of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, as well as the surrounding minor islands.
It was created on May 29, 2015, by separating Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental from the Central Visayas and Western Visayas regions, respectively.
In 2015, the late president Benigno Aquino III issued Executive Order No. 183 establishing the Negros Island Region “to further accelerate the social and economic development of the cities and municipalities comprising the provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, and improve the delivery of public services in the aforementioned provinces.”
It aimed to create a regional center in Bacolod City and allocate a budget for the region’s operations.
However, due to budgetary constraints and opposition from local politicians, NIR was abolished on August 9, 2017, and the two provinces reverted to their respective regions.
Then President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order 38 dissolving the Negros Island Region for “competing with the government priority programs and projects for funding.”/PN
