By Dolly Yasa
BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said the filing of House and Senate bills seeking to restore Negros Island Region (NIR), which was abolished in 2017, is “very encouraging.”
Lacson, a staunch advocate of NIR, said he is looking forward for a more accommodating administration next year to “support such measures”.
Earlier, Negros Occidental 3rd district Rep. Jose Francisco Benitez and eight other Negros Island solons filed House Bill 10534, that aims to create Negros Island Region for greater economic coordination and more efficient delivery of public services to promote sustainable and inclusive economic development in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental.
Senate Majority Floor Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri also sponsored a bill that will revive the NIR.
While the measures are unlikely to be approved by the current Congress, Zubiri said it would likely happen in the next Congress.
Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental currently belong to two different administrative regions – Region VI and VII, respectively. The provinces’ considerable distance from their regional centers (Iloilo, for Occidental; Cebu, for Oriental) has long made government services largely inaccessible to many Negrenses.
The NIR which was created through an Executive Order by the late President Benigno Simeon Aquino was abolished by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016.