MANILA – The Senate, in a 22-0-0 voting with no abstention, has approved on third and final reading on Tuesday a measure establishing the Negros Island Region (NIR).
The approved Senate Bill (SB) 2507 proposes the placing of the provinces of Negros Occidental including Bacolod City, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor under NIR.
“The province of Siquijor is included due to its historical ties and geographic proximity to the island of Negros,” said Sen. JV Ejercito, chair of the Senate committee on local government.
The measure seeks to improve the delivery of basic government services in Negros Island through the establishment of regional government offices and promote decentralization to strengthen local autonomy.
“The re-establishment of the NIR will ensure the effective delivery of government services to the public in the region,” said Ejercito, who has roots from Bacolod City.
A technical working group (TWG) will formulate a roadmap for the institutional arrangements of the NIR, arrange the organizational development requirements for development planning and investment programming, and map out the provision of public services in the proposed region.
Composing the TWG are representatives from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the Office of the Governor of the provinces, elected members of the House of Representatives of the provinces, and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), which shall serve as its secretariat.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, who is among the principal authors of Senate Bill No. 2507, lauded the approval of the measure that will benefit his fellow Negrenses.
“This is a dream come true for all of us who are working to have a Negros Island Region,” said Zubiri, who traced his roots from Kabankalan City in Negros Occidental.
“This bill, once enacted into law, will further boost development on Negros Island and Siquijor and ease the burden of our people in dealing with the national government agencies,” he added.
Now that the measure has hurdled the third and final reading in the Senate, it will now be submitted to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. for signing into law.
In March last year, the House of Representatives unanimously approved on third and final reading of House Bill No. 7355, the counterpart measure of the Senate bill.
“There is a growing clamor for the establishment of the NIR since residents of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental still have to travel to either Iloilo or Cebu to transact with the regional offices of several national government agencies,” Zubiri said.
The Negros Island Region was first established through Executive Order 183 in 2015 by then-President Benigno Aquino III, but it was abolished by then President Rodrigo Duterte through EO 38 in 2017.
Duterte said establishing regional councils and offices for the NIR required substantial appropriation to be fully operational, thus competing with government priority programs and projects for funding./PN
