By JEN BAYLON
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said the Negros Island Region (NIR) will only be “fully operational” if it has its own budget.
“We will see the full implementation of the NIR in 2026 because they are now preparing its budget inclusion in next year’s General Appropriations Act [GAA],” Lacson said.
According to the governor, the newly established region is currently getting its funds to operate its regional offices from the budgets of Western and Central Visayas.
The budget was supposed to be used to build regional offices for government agencies.
In August last year, NIR’s proposed P3.6 billion budget allocation for three years did not meet the deadline for the GAA.
Republic Act 12000, or the NIR Act, separates Negros Occidental from Western Visayas (Region 6), as well as Negros Oriental and Siquijor from Central Visayas (Region 7), following its enactment in June 2024.
Among the government agencies that have already established their regional offices in NIR are the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Agrarian Reform, Commission on Elections (Comelec), Office of Civil Defense (OCD), and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Initially, the technical working group for NIR said 16 regional offices would be located in Negros Oriental’s Dumaguete City.
These are the Department of Education, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Department of Social Welfare and Development, DOH, Commission on Higher Education, Civil Service Commission, PSA, Professional Regulation Commission, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Tourism, Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Public Works and Highways, and Department of Transportation and Communication.
Meanwhile, 14 regional offices will be established in Negros Occidental, which include DA, Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, Department of Justice, DILG, Philippine National Police, Department of National Defense, OCD, Department of Budget and Management, National Economic and Development Authority, Commission on Audit, and Comelec.
Earlier, Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said NIR will be officially operational on February 18, after the publication of Republic Act 12000, establishing the NIR.
A meeting will be scheduled for regional directors of various government agencies to discuss the deployment of their personnel.
Transition
At least 296 employees from DOH in Western Visayas have been assigned to work with the newly created NIR.
Among the employees, 13 have plantilla positions, 33 are under contract of service, and 250 are on contractual work under the human resource for health scheme.
“Right now, most of the staff members are already reporting to our office in Dumaguete,” DOH-NIR Regional Director Dr. Razel Nikka Hao said.
Hao added that the agency “is already conducting some transactions there.”
“We are hoping to complete the whole renovation by around February or March,” she said.
Aside from the main office in Dumaguete City’s Barangay Piapi, the employees will also be assigned to DOH’s provincial and city regional offices.
DOH-NIR will be located temporarily on the third floor of the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital.
The agency plans to set up additional centers for treatment, rehabilitation and mental health as soon as funds become available./JB, WDJ