VALENZUELA City Rep. Rex Gatchalian has expressed full support to the proposed creation of the Negros Island Region (NIR) that aims to hasten the economic and social growth and development of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental as a single administrative region.
The chairman of the House Committee on Local Government said the establishment of the Negros Island Region has undergone numerous consultative meetings, and an exhaustive and thorough examination and discussion on the various position papers submitted to the committee on the various issues.
“We fully support the legislation of this important measure, which Negrenses have long aspired for,” Gatchalian said.
The committee has approved the substitute bill establishing the NIR.
The bill is a consolidation of the measures filed by Negros Occidental Reps. Juliet Marie de Leon Ferrer, Alfredo Maranon II, Jose Francisco Benitez, Gerardo Valmayor Jr., Emilio Bernardino Yulo and Mercedes Alvarez, Bacolod City Rep. Greg Gasataya, and Abang Lingkod party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano.
Under the proposed measure, the NIR shall be composed of provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays in Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental and the island province of Siquijor.
According to the authors of the measure, re-unifying the two Negros provinces under one administrative region is necessary for economic growth to redound to the benefit of the people through the close economic coordination of the two Negros provinces.
They also said the inclusion of Siquijor Province in the proposed NIR is “logical and practical” due to its proximity and cultural similarities to Negros Island.
In a report to the committee, Alvarez said the consolidated bill has the full backing of the business sector, which include the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Negros Oriental Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
On May 29, 2015, the NIR was first created through Executive Order 183 signed by then-President Benigno Aquino III, separating Negros Occidental from Western Visayas, and Negros Oriental from Central Visayas.
However, on Aug. 7, 2017, former President Rodrigo Duterte issued EO 38 abolishing the NIR, stressing the need to ensure that priority government programs and projects are sufficiently funded.
