By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said yesterday that there is no schedule yet for his second meeting with Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo over the proposed revival of the Negros Island Region (NIR).

It can be recalled that during their first meeting earlier this month, Degamo proposed a counter-proposal, calling for the creation of another province in Negros before agreeing to the NIR’s reestablishment.

Degamo’s counter-proposal is meant to address the “unequal footing” within the Regional Development Council (RDC) in the event that the NIR was revived.

His proposal has “raised eyebrows” among lawmakers and politicians in Negros, who have pointed out this will take too long, while some are calling for the NIR to be revived first before any talks about creating a new province can be made.

In response to Degamo’s equal footing concern, Lacson said Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Frank Carbon made a suggestion to handover the RDC’s chairmanship to Degamo instead.

Lacson said he is ready to give the RDC chairmanship to Degamo should the NIR be reestablished.

The NIR Act of 2022, or Senate Bill 1236, already hurdled the committee on local government in December of last year.

The NIR was first established through an executive order issued by former President Benigno Aquino III in 2015.

However, it was dissolved two years later by his successor, former President Rodrigo Duterte, due to the high cost of maintaining the region./DGB, WDJ