BY JEN BAYLON
President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. will sign the Negros Island Region (NIR) bill into law today, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said.
“The fact that the President will sign it into law is already an achievement for all of us,” Lacson said.
He hailed the upcoming bill signing as an achievement for the Negrenses, stating that it is already a major accomplishment.
Lacson said Marcos invited him for the ceremonial signing of Senate Bill 2507 and House Bill 7355, or the NIR bill, at the Ceremonial Hall of Malacañang Palace at 2:00 p.m. today.
Meanwhile, Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez will also attend the ceremonial signing of the NIR bill.
In a statement through his spokesperson, Caesar Distrito, Benitez said he is excited that NIR, being a separate region, will soon create a lot of benefits for Negrenses and Siquijodnons.
“More infrastructure and development projects, more growth areas, opening of more government positions that will give opportunities to our local government workers, [and] reducing bureaucratic processes as we will have our own regional offices here in Negros are just some of the benefits that the NIR will bring,” Benitez said.
Bacolod City Lone District Congressman Greg Gasataya said the signing of the bill is a huge victory for the region as “government services will finally be brought closer to Negrosanons, Siquijodnons and Bacolodnons.”
“This pivotal policy will help steer our attention and efforts on planning and consolidated efforts to spur growth and development in the region and improve the quality of life within our jurisdiction,” Gasataya said in a statement.
The NIR bill, creating a new region composed of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor, aims to promote administrative decentralization and strengthen local autonomy, which will accelerate cultural and social development in the region.
The bill seeks to improve the delivery of basic government services on Negros Island through the establishment of regional government offices.
Under the bill, regional offices related to agriculture, peace and order, security, and governance clusters will be established in Negros Occidental, while agencies related to human development, infrastructure and industry, and labor clusters will be assigned to Negros Oriental.
Negros Occidental currently belongs to Western Visayas, while Negros Oriental and Siquijor are under Central Visayas.
The Senate passed the NIR bill on the third and final reading in March of this year.
The NIR was initially established in 2015 through Executive Order (EO) 183 by former President Benigno Aquino III, but it was abolished in 2017 by former President Rodrigo Duterte through EO 38./JB, WDJ