One-Negros: More than a convenience issue

(First of three parts)

BACOLOD CITY—When provincial health officer Ernell Tumimbang accompanied leaders from 91 villages in Negros Occidental to Iloilo to receive awards for exemplary blood donation activities last year, little did he expect that the trip across the Guimaras Strait would evolve into a logistical nightmare.

They were supposed to take the ferry back after the Sandugo Awards were presented by the Department of Health (DOH) in Western Visayas, but travel through the distance of 50 kilometers (27 nautical miles) was canceled due to bad weather. Tumimbang and the rest of the delegation ended up stranded in Iloilo, with no extra cash for food and accommodation.

Such an unfortunate incident would have been avoided with the creation of a new region, composed of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental. Negrenses need not go to the current regional centers in Iloilo or Cebu. Negros Oriental belongs to Central Visayas, whose regional center is Cebu, while Negros Occidental is part of Western Visayas, which is based in Iloilo.

The proposed Negros Island Region (NIR) is being pushed by political and business leaders, as well as various groups. President Aquino, during his visit to Bacolod last month, promised to sign the executive order creating the NIR once he receives the draft from Governors Roel Degamo of Negros Oriental and Alfredo Marañon Jr. of Negros Occidental.

“There is logic in creating an island region where the resources will be divided only by two provinces,” the President said.

Under the administrative setup, the Negros provinces will have a regional center in the central part of the island at the border of Kabankalan City in Negros Occidental and Mabinay town in Negros Oriental.

At present, residents of Negros Occidental travel to Iloilo to transact business with the regional offices of government agencies. The boat ride takes 1 hour and 15 minutes for the fast craft, and two hours for the roll-on, roll-off vessel. Fares are between P280 and P395.

A cheaper and faster ride is by bus to Kabankalan, 90.4 km south of Bacolod. Fare for the trip of 1 hour and 30 minutes costs P135 for an air-conditioned bus and P105 for a non-airconditioned one.

Melegildo Sanogal, a retired police officer, frequently goes to the Philippine National Police regional office in Iloilo to secure clearance and endorsement for a security agency where he works as liaison officer. He said his schedule would go haywire whenever boat trips are canceled due to bad weather.

In the case of Tumimbang, being stranded in Iloilo with 100 local leaders was a major financial headache; he had no budget for extra food and accommodation. Fortunately, he was able to borrow P30,000 from a friend to pay for food and asked the DOH regional office to shoulder the hotel bills.

For those in Negros Oriental, going to Cebu from the capital of Dumaguete City requires travel by boat and bus, which takes about six hours and costs less than P300. But if the regional offices are in Mabinay, the trip will be shorter—about two hours long for the 87-km road trip which costs P155.

Economic development

There is more, however, than the convenience of having the NIR. The idea will improve planning, management and administration of programs and policies on tourism, peace and order, and environment and economic development, according to its proponents.

The NIR would have an integrated tourism development plan for the island that would boost tourism in the two provinces, said former Negros Occidental Gov. Rafael Coscolluela.

Coscolluela, a former presidential adviser for Western Visayas, said peace and order programs could be better planned and implemented under an islandwide command of both the police and military, instead of two regions. Negros Island has been one of the traditional hotbeds of communist insurgency.

Under the NIR, environmental conservation programs and disaster mitigation management can also be better handled, Coscolluela said.

According to Edward Du, president of the Negros Oriental Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Negros Oriental will benefit from investments, noting that the province has been left behind in terms of projects and investment opportunities under the current setup.

“Cebu and Bohol are getting all the development,” Du said.

Poverty incidence in Negros Oriental has remained the same in the past 10 to 15 years. Citing data from 2003 to 2012 from the National Statistical Coordination Board, Du said Negros Oriental had been the poorest province in Central Visayas and in the top 20 poorest provinces in the Philippines, with poverty incidence ranging from 41 percent to 52 percent.

But can the benefits of creating the NIR outweigh its disadvantages?