(First of two parts)
As 2025 comes to a close, Negros Island Region stands shaped by a year of defining moments — marked by upheaval and hope, struggle and strength — each leaving an imprint.
From controversies to natural and environmental crises, the year proved to be pivotal in shaping Negros in more ways than one.
This year’s biggest stories — consistently made headlines on our front pages throughout the year — became turning points that continue to reshape policies, alter priorities and spark conversations that extend beyond 2025.
We take a closer look and revisit the events that placed Negros at the crossroads — and defined the year that was.
NIR activation
Six months after the enactment of Republic Act 12000, or the Negros Island Region (NIR) Act in June 2024, former Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez confirmed that the newly established region was fully activated following the publication of its implementing rules and regulations (IRR).
The IRR, which established NIR, was published last February 3, and was formalized on February 18.
During a meeting attended by 36 government agency heads, it was revealed that 90 percent of the required regional offices are now operational.
NIR, the 18th region in the country, separates Negros Occidental from Western Visayas, as well as Negros Oriental and Siquijor from Central Visayas.
Benitez said most of the regional offices have already designated their directors.
This significant progress marks a pivotal step in the region’s administrative development.
However, Benitez said that due to the absence of an approved budget for NIR for the current fiscal year, operations will continue to rely on funds from Western (Region 6) and Central Visayas (Region 7).
Initially, the technical working group for NIR said 16 regional offices would be located in Negros Oriental’s Dumaguete City.
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson announced that NIR is expected to be fully operational by 2027.
In March, Police Regional Office (PRO) in Western Visayas Director Brigadier General Jack Wanky officially assumed his role as the officer-in-charge of the newly activated police office in NIR.
PRO-NIR will integrate the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office, Bacolod City Police Office, Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office, Siquijor Police Provincial Office, and the Regional Mobile Force Battalion-Western Visayas units.
Kanlaon evacuees return home
After eight months in evacuation centers, more than 1,200 families or 4,000 individuals displaced by Kanlaon Volcano’s eruption in Negros Occidental have finally returned home, following the lowering of the volcano’s alert status.
Another batch of evacuees from the cities of Bago and La Carlota returned to their homes on August 16.
However, some internally displaced persons affected by Kanlaon’s unrest remain stranded in evacuation centers as their homes have been destroyed by the volcanic ashfall while decampment is steadily progressing.
About 300 individuals composed of 103 families whose homes are located within the four-kilometer permanent danger zone (PDZ) must remain in evacuation centers.
Of the number, 45 families are from Canlaon City and 36 from La Castellana town.
Local government units in La Castellana, La Carlota and Bago, as well as Negros Oriental’s Canlaon City, have begun gradual repatriation efforts but are also instructed to maintain readiness in case volcanic activity escalates again.
The families were permitted to return home following Kanlaon’s downgrade to Alert Level 2, signaling a general decline in volcanic activity after nearly seven months of heightened unrest.
Under Alert Level 2, residents within the PDZ should remain evacuated due to the lingering chances of short-lived explosive eruptions and sudden steam-driven or phreatic explosions that can generate life-threatening volcanic hazards such as pyroclastic density currents, ballistic projectiles, rockfalls, and lethal expulsions of volcanic gas.
This year, Kanlaon had three minor eruptions, emitting voluminous grayish ash above its vent, which affected barangays in eight localities across Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental.
It also generated incandescent pyroclastic density currents that descended to the southern slopes of the volcano, reaching approximately two kilometers, and produced large ballistic fragments thrown around the crater within a few hundred meters.
In June, the Office of Civil Defense in Negros Island Region (OCD-NIR) suspended entry and prohibited residents from carrying out farming and livelihood activities within Kanlaon’s six-kilometer extended danger zone.
Evacuated residents are prohibited from returning to their homes to carry out farming and other essential activities until further notice.
OCD-NIR admitted it cannot intervene in the release of additional financial assistance to local government units (LGUs) affected by Kanlaon’s unrest.
The additional P203 million worth of financial assistance in response to Kanlaon’s continuing unrest on Negros Island will go directly to the affected LGUs, the OCD said.
After the source of funds amounting to more than P203 million was transferred to the Department of Budget and Management, the guidelines stipulate that only the mayors of the affected LGUs are authorized to follow up on the release of these funds, OCD-NIR Director Donato Sermeno III said.
President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has approved over P203 million in additional funding for LGUs at risk of Kanlaon Volcano’s continuing unrest.
In late October, the municipal government of La Castellana in Negros Occidental admitted that it no longer has sufficient funds to respond to another possible eruption of Kanlaon Volcano, even as national and local disaster agencies remain on heightened alert following the volcano’s explosive activity.
La Castellana Mayor Añejo Nicor is sounding the alarm over the town’s dwindling resources and calling on the national government to act swiftly.
Plans are moving forward to construct permanent relocation sites in Barangays Talaptap and Robles for the long-term resettlement of affected families, aiming to give displaced residents some stability after more than half a year in temporary shelters.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said there was a strong chance that Kanlaon will erupt again anytime soon, as the volcano recorded more volcano-tectonic earthquakes.
Pending GMO ordinance
Advocates from various sectors are calling for Negros Occidental to remain free from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) amid reports of attempts to reverse the landmark ordinance banning GMOs in the province.
They demanded that the provincial government “uphold and enforce the GMO-free policy of Negros Occidental with no exemptions or compromises, and reject and block any proposals for GMO testing or cultivation, whether in laboratories, research stations or farmlands.”
Among the 22 signatories in the declaration are Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of the Diocese of San Carlos, Fr. Julius Espinosa of Caritas Bacolod Social Action Foundation, Edgardo Uychiat of the Negros Island Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development Foundation, and Ramon Uy Jr. of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements.
The GMO-Free Negros Coalition argued that Negros Occidental is under no legal obligation after the provincial government’s joint legal-scientific team recommended amendments to its existing GMO ordinance to harmonize local rules with the national policy framework.
A broad coalition of 82 organizations warned that the proposed ordinance could undermine the province’s hard-won reputation as the Philippines’ “Organic Capital.”
Provincial government officials defended the proposed ordinance allowing the entry and development of GMOs in the province, following opposition from various sectors allied with the organic agriculture movement.
This contradicts Ordinance No. 7, passed in 2017, prohibiting the entry, importation, introduction, planting, growing, selling, and trading of GMO plants and animals in Negros Occidental.
Provincial Administrator Diaz said the province continues to strengthen support for organic agriculture practices, but will not close its doors to those who will not practice organic farming.
“This is for food security. We don’t know what will happen, especially when wars break out, when pandemics break out. We have to be self-sufficient. We had our reality check during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he added.
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said he respects the opinions of those opposing the proposed regulatory ordinance, including 3rd District Representative Javier Miguel Benitez and environmental groups that staged a protest at the Provincial Capitol on September 15.
The proposed GMO regulatory ordinance, under deliberation by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, aims to establish a framework for regulating the introduction and cultivation of GMO crops in the province.
Flood control
During his State of the Nation Address in July, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. ordered a full audit of all flood control projects across the country, blasting costly but ineffective infrastructure, following floods in various areas in Metro Manila and nearby provinces triggered by monsoon rains.
“Kaya sa mga nakikipag-sabwatan upang kunin ang pondo ng bayan at nakawin ang kinabukasan ng ating mga mamamayan, mahiya naman kayo sa inyong kapwa Pilipino!” Marcos said.
“Mahiya naman kayo sa mga kabahayan nating naanod o nalubog sa baha. Mahiya naman kayo lalo sa mga anak natin na magmamana sa mga utang na ginawa ninyo, na binulsa niyo lang ang pera,” he added.
The president’s order exposed flaws in flood mitigation projects despite billions of pesos in spending.
From 2017 to 2025, P4.28 billion in funds for flood control projects were allocated in Bacolod alone, while 138 projects across Negros Island accounted for the rest, according to the Sumbong sa Pangulo website.
In Bacolod City alone, about 22 percent of the government’s flood control projects were awarded to Legacy Construction Corp., including six projects worth over P600 million between 2022 and 2024, five of which have been completed.
Binalbagan also topped the list with 29 flood control projects, while the cities of Silay and Victorias have 16 each.
The cities of Cadiz, Talisay and San Carlos had 12 projects each; Kabankalan City had 10 projects; Sagay City and La Castellana had six each; while Bago City, as well as the towns of Manapla and Ilog, had four projects each.
Following the directive, Bacolod City Mayor Greg Gasataya warned erring contractors that they could soon face termination and blacklisting as the city government is stepping up its efforts to hold construction firms accountable for delayed flood control and drainage projects in the city.
Bacolod City Lone District Representative Alfredo Abelardo Benitez also called for the immediate blacklisting of contractors with a record of unfinished, substandard or grossly delayed flood control projects, saying incompetence and corruption must have “immediate consequences.”
In September, a multi-sectoral group composed of church leaders, lawyers, engineers, and civil society organizations formally launched the Council of Concerned Citizens (C3) to investigate alleged corruption in flood control projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Bacolod.
C3 convenor Fr. Mao Buenafe said the initiative emerged amid growing public suspicion of anomalies involving government officials and elected leaders in the implementation of flood mitigation projects.
The watchdog has raised serious questions over the transparency, necessity and quality of P11 billion worth of flood control projects in Bacolod, following an independent inspection and review of completed structures.
Buenafe stressed that while no ghost projects were found, the investigation exposed broader issues of design integrity, bidding processes, contractor accountability, and inter-agency responsibility.
C3 flagged six flood control projects worth more than P573 million, including the P96.5-million flood wall on Lupit River in Barangay 40 that gave way last September 26 as strong currents swelled the riverbanks.
With the national government’s decision to scrap funding for flood control projects in the 2026 national budget, Benitez is now exploring alternative funding sources to sustain the maintenance of existing drainage systems and prevent further flooding in the city.
Benitez earlier confirmed that the P152-million diversion channel project at the Reclamation Area will face delays following President Marcos Jr.’s decision to redirect P255 billion in funds — originally intended for locally funded flood control initiatives — toward education, health and housing.
The reallocation effectively halts the release of the final P100 million tranche intended for Bacolod’s diversion channel project, a major infrastructure component meant to ease flooding in the city’s central and coastal areas.
The funding setback comes just as Bacolod continues to grapple with recurring floods.
According to Benitez, the DPWH is now crafting a new master plan for flood mitigation projects after the P255 billion originally allocated for flood control was removed from the National Expenditure Program 2026 and reallocated to other agencies such as the Department of Education and the Department of Health.
In late October, C3 vowed to continue investigating alleged irregularities in flood control projects in Bacolod City despite the resignation of several Catholic priests who were among the watchdog’s original conveners.
“The investigation will proceed as planned. Our mission for truth and accountability does not depend on personalities,” Cesar Beloria, one of C3’s conveners, said, adding that the group’s pursuit of transparency continues “for the sake of the public good.”
Beloria said C3 remains committed to examining 138 flood control projects implemented from 2017 to 2025, with a total value estimated at P4.2 billion.
Among those who stepped down were Fr. Anecito “Mao” Buenafe, Fr. Arman Onion, Fr. Julius Espinosa, and Fr. Chris Gonzales, who cited Church policy limiting clergy participation in corporate entities after C3 decided to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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To be continued./WDJ