BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Sen. Imee Marcos is studying the proposed reestablishment of the Negros Island Region (NIR).
On March 6, the NIR bill was unanimously approved on third and final reading by the House of Representatives and has now been forwarded to the Senate.
“I don’t think I’m in the position to say yes or no right now simply because I haven’t studied it carefully,” said Marcos.
Marcos, however, said the NIR would be a good opportunity for Negrenses to have a louder voice in the sugar industry, in the division of infrastructure, and in the efforts of the government to extend safety nets to the poor and marginalized sectors.
If enacted, the NIR would be an amalgamation of the provinces of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor.
The Negros Island Region Act of 2022, or Senate Bill 1236, cleared the committee on local government in December last year.
At present, however, talks between the provincial governments of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental have been put on hold following the murder of Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo.
The late governor cited Negros Occidental’s “political dominance”, “unequal voting” within the Regional Development Council (RDC) meetings if the NIR was ever established, and the “cultural divide” wherein people on the Occidental side of the island speak Hiligaynon while those on the Oriental side use Cebuano or Bisaya./PN
