By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson lauded the Negros Island Region (NIR) bill after it hurdled on second reading at the House of Representatives on Wednesday, March 1.

The NIR bill only needs to hurdle the third and final reading before it is forwarded to the Senate.

Following the latest development, Lacson hopes the bill will become a law as a majority of the senators are supportive of re-establishing the NIR.

Lacson even hinted at how the bill is moving forward and may be signed into law this year, adding it would be a nice early Christmas gift to the Negrenses.

Meanwhile, Lacson said Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo has yet to get in touch with him.

He would just inform Degamo of the bill’s movement in congress.

It can be recalled that Degamo is against NIR reestablishment due to “equal footing” within the Regional Development Council (RDC), and the “cultural divide” between Negrenses in the Occidental and Oriental sides.

Degamo instead forwarded a counter-proposal, establishing another province on Negros Island to address his “equal footing” concern, which raised eyebrows among local government officials in the province.

A suggestion was also raised to hand over the RDC’s chairmanship to Degamo should the NIR be signed into law to satisfy his demands for equal footing.

The NIR Act of 2022, or Senate Bill 1236, already hurdled the Committee on Local Government in December of last year.

An executive order, issued by former President Benigno Aquino III, established the NIR in 2015. It was dissolved two years later by his successor, former President Rodrigo Duterte, due to the high cost of maintaining the region./DGB, WDJ