By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri yesterday expressed his commitment to the reestablishment of the Negros Island Region (NIR) in the upper chamber during the opening of the 19th Congress on July 1.

Zubiri originally filed his bill for the NIR back in November 2021.

“I thank President-elect Bongbong Marcos for assuring us, this early on, of his support for the creation of the Negros Island Region,” Zubiri said. “There has been a long history behind the NIR, and my fellow Negrenses are eager to see its establishment after decades of lobbying.”

According to Zubiri, the abolishment of the NIR was a setback, although with the support of Marcos, he is hopeful that they can finally reestablish the region, this time under the proper legislative framework.

“Once we establish the NIR, we will be able to hasten the development of Negros Island, and give it its own dedicated regional offices. That is really the main point behind the establishment of the NIR—making government services accessible to our people. With those in place, we will be able to lay down the groundwork to make Negros a center of commerce and tourism in the Visayas region,” the senator added.

The NIR was first established through an executive order of the late President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III in May of 2015.

However in 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte issued an executive order abolishing the NIR as the region was proving to be too costly, and that the region’s creation should have been through the creation of a law and not an executive order./DGB, WDJ