By JEN BAYLON

Dumaguete City Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo hopes that President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. will sign the Negros Island Region (NIR) bill into law.

Remollo said he is “90 percent sure” that Marcos will sign the bill, amid the concerns being raised by the Diocese of Dumaguete about the NIR.

He said several consultations on the proposed new region have been held.

Remollo said the President will visit Dumaguete on May 20, to distribute Certificates of Land Ownership Award to some farmer-beneficiaries.

Marcos Jr., during his visit to Bacolod City on April 8, made an assurance to sign into law the NIR bill.

Earlier, the Diocese of Dumaguete appealed to Marcos to veto the NIR bill due to “lack of information dissemination and the absence of public consultation with diverse sectors and stakeholders.”

The diocese also cited reasons for opposing the establishment of NIR, such as “disproportionate impact” on less privileged sectors, unequal distribution of resource allocation and representation, and the threat to exacerbate existing inequalities.

It added that the bill must be rejected for being ill-conceived due to lack of feasibility study, and for being unnecessary.

The Senate passed the NIR bill on the third and final reading in March of this year, creating a new region consisting of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.

The bill seeks to improve the delivery of basic government services on Negros Island, through the establishment of regional government offices, and to promote decentralization to strengthen local autonomy.

Negros Occidental currently belongs to Western Visayas, while Negros Oriental and Siquijor are under Central Visayas./JB, WDJ