By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Senate will begin to take up the proposed bill reestablishing the Negros Island Region (NIR).

According to Senator JV Ejercito, they will resume hearings on the NIR.

However, the Senate wants to make sure that Negros Oriental is also in favor.

“One more hearing, then [the] TWG [technical working group] already,” Ejercito said.

Earlier, Negros Occidental provincial administrator, Atty. Rayfrando Diaz said Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson would finish convening with the Regional Peace and Order Council first before talking to his counterpart, Negros Oriental Governor Carlo Jorge Joan Reyes.

Reyes came into office replacing former Governor Roel Degamo, who was killed by assassins on March 4 in Negros Occidental’s Pamplona town.

Diaz said it remains unclear if Reyes is against or supportive of the NIR.

House Bill 7355 or An Act Establishing the NIR passed the third and final reading of the House of Representatives earlier this month.

The bill was forwarded to the Senate for disposition.

Prior to his assassination, Degamo expressed his opposition to the NIR revival, pointing out some factors, such as unequal voting within the Regional Development Council should the NIR be established, political dominance of Negros Occidental, and a “cultural barrier” between the two Negros provinces./DGB, WDJ