By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
The Senate will carefully review the provisions of the Negros Island Region (NIR) bill which was approved on the third and final reading by the House of Representatives in March.
Senator Risa Hontiveros visited Bacolod City late Tuesday afternoon, July 18, to meet with representatives from the sugar industry in Negros.
According to the senator, the NIR bill was a “very exciting experiment.”
“Exciting siya geographically kasi isang isla. Exciting din siya environmentally because of the island ecosystem. Of course, it is challenging in terms of languages, but it’s been done before,” she said.
The senator believes the reason why the previous NIR was implemented for a very short period of time is because of experience and lessons gathered before they have not yet been exhausted.
They will carefully study the bill and actively participate in the Senate interpolation.
Discussions on the NIR bill are scheduled to begin after the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on July 24.
In March, the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading House Bill 7355, or An Act Establishing the NIR.
The bill was then forwarded to the Senate, but it slowed down as Negros Oriental has yet to give its official paper regarding the proposal.
Former Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo opposed the reestablishment of the region, citing Negros Occidental’s “political dominance,” “unequal voting” within the Regional Development Council meetings if the NIR is established, and the “cultural divide” wherein people on the Occidental side speak Hiligaynon while those on the Oriental side use Cebuano or Bisaya.
However, Degamo was assassinated in March of this year and was replaced by Governor Carlo Jorge Joan Reyes, but he too passed away on June 4, due to an illness.
He was replaced by Negros Oriental Governor Manuel Sagarbarria.
Earlier, Lacson said, based on the initial information he received, Sagarbarria will not oppose any move to reestablish the NIR.
He would give Sagarbarria a call instead of visiting him personally in Negros Oriental to discuss the issue.
An author of the House bill said the Senate Committee on Local Government had already conducted two hearings on the bill./DGB, WDJ