By JEN BAYLON
Three clusters of national government offices in the Negros Island Region (NIR) will be located in Negros Occidental, according to the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 12000, or the NIR Act.
The agriculture, peace and order, and governance clusters will be located in Negros Occidental, Department of Interior and Local Government-Negros Occidental Assistant Regional Director Teodora Sumagaysay said.
She said the construction and establishment of NIR regional offices in the provinces of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor is 70 percent complete.
Most of the regional offices have already been established despite limited capacity because they operate on limited funds from the budget of Western and Central Visayas.
“They are still in the concurrent capacity because the budget for NIR will be included in the 2026 General Appropriations Act,” Sumagaysay said.
The IRR of Republic Act 12000 has been published in the Official Gazette and national newspapers in general circulation.
Sumagaysay said this signals the start and operation of various government offices in NIR.
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.
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./JB, WDJ