Negros Island Region setup may start this year

BACOLOD CITY—Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas on Monday said the Negros Island Region (NIR) would be operational on an ad hoc basis starting late this year, and that funding for it would be included in next year’s national budget.

Roxas turned over the copy of the executive order creating the NIR, signed by President Aquino, to Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. at the Social Hall of the provincial Capitol here, to the applause of more than 400 government, business, sugar, academe and civil society leaders.

Officials of neighboring Siquijor province have also expressed interest to join the region, he said. It takes five hours to travel by boat from Siquijor to Cebu and only one hour to Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental province.

‘Historic opportunity’

In his speech, Roxas described the new region as “a moment of historic opportunity.” For the first time, he said, the people of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental could jointly come together and make a coherent plan for the entire island.

“Today, the NIR is no longer a dream, it is a reality; now, the responsibility for your future is yours—you can write your own destiny,” he told the crowd.

This will mean cooperation between Negros Occidental and Oriental and hard work for the island region to succeed, Roxas said, adding that Negrenses were up to the challenge.

He promised to help the new region, especially in its growing pains.

The secretary said the creation of the NIR was not yet finished, though a lot had already been accomplished.

Next week, delegations from the two Negros provinces will meet in Manila as part of a technical working group that will iron out the operational details for the NIR. University of St. La Salle will be part of the Occidental group and Silliman University for the Oriental group.

New regional center

A new regional center will not be established right away as it will cost a lot of money, Roxas said.

At first, little funding is needed as existing national government offices in the Negros provinces will be converted to regional offices. Half of the regional offices will be in Negros Occidental and the other half in Negros Oriental, Roxas said.

Officials of both provinces will also have to come up with a methodology on how the regional offices will be divided, he said.

Roxas informed Marañon about the need for Negros officials to come up with a consensus on who will head the NIR Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council, Regional Peace and Order Council, and the Regional Development Council (RDC).

Lawmakers in rites

The governor will have to give up his post as Western Visayas RDC chair with the creation of the NIR, Roxas said.

Also present at the rites were former Negros Occidental Gov. Daniel Lacson Jr., Vice Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Negros Occidental Representatives Leo Rafael Cueva, Jeffrey Ferrer, Alejandro Mirasol and Mercedes Alvarez.

Vice Governor Lacson said the NIR would allow for better focus on the needs of Negros Occidental and Oriental from national government agencies.