By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said yesterday he would prefer seeing a fully-reestablished Negros Island Region (NIR) compared to the sub-region proposal by Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Benitez.
According to Lacson, he is okay with Benitez’s two proposals, but the governor would very much prefer restoring NIR composing the provinces of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.
“I’m just wondering if Albee is also in consultations with our legislators, because they and the district representatives are focused on creating the NIR, so I’m not sure about the dynamics between our legislators,” Lacson said.
Earlier, Benitez made two proposals which would be forwarded to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr.
The first proposal would be to reestablish the NIR through an executive order similar to the one made by former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III in 2015.
Benitez’s second proposal is the creation of Region 6-A, composed of Bacolod City and Negros Occidental; and Region 7-A, composed of Dumaguete City and Negros Oriental.
Lacson said that reviving the NIR through an executive order would be nice, but with the ultimate intention of the region being enacted into law.
Previously, a substitute bill seeking the reestablishment of the NIR was jointly submitted by the district representatives of Negros Occidental and the lone district of Bacolod City.
The bill was also co-authored by lawmakers from Negros Oriental, and its counterpart, Senate Bill 1236, has already hurdled the committee on local government in December of last year.
Meanwhile, despite the full support of almost all representatives on Negros Island and Siquijor, Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo would later oppose the proposed law, pointing out “unequal voting” within Regional Development Council (RDC) meetings if the NIR is established, and the “cultural barrier” between Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental.
However, Degamo did not fully reject the NIR outright, as he forwarded a counter-proposal calling for the creation of a third province on Negros Island to address equal footing in the RDC before agreeing to NIR revival.
Some lawmakers also commented on Degamo’s counter-proposal.
Negros Occidental 5th district congressman Emilio Yulo III said the most important matter at the moment is to make things easy, pointing out the creation of a new province is a highly complicated process.
“Pwede man na sya sa ulihi ma-harmonize, but let us first [concentrate] on the creation of the NIR,” Yulo said.
He added that the creation of a new province must comply with the mandatory requirements for land, income and population.
On the other hand, Negros Occidental 4th district congresswoman Juliet Marie Ferrer also bucked Degamo’s counter-proposal, pointing out the creation of another province in Negros would require a long legislative process and eventually a plebiscite, which is costly.
She said the creation of laws, including NIR, is constitutionally vested in Congress, which has the legislative power.
Ferrer’s statement is also in tandem with a comment by Benitez, who pointed out last week that he would prefer to listen to Degamo’s fair representation rather than agreeing to his counter-proposal.
The NIR was dissolved two years after its establishment due to the high cost of maintaining the region./DGB, WDJ