NextGen Day

The construction of the Negros Island Entity (NIR), which its advocates claim will speed the development of the provinces of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor as a single administrative region, has the full backing of Valenzuela City 1st District Representative Rex Gatchalian.

“The creation of the Negros Island Region has been the subject of a number of consultation sessions, as well as a comprehensive and in-depth review and discussion of the various position papers that were presented to the committee on a variety of problems. As a result, we wholeheartedly support the passage of this significant law, which Negrenses have long sought, stated the head of the House Committee on Local Government.

In its first hearing of the year on Tuesday, Gatchalian’s panel adopted the substitute measure creating the NIR.

The legislation is a consolidation of House Bills 119 by Representative Juliet Marie de Leon Ferrer (4th District, Negros Occidental), 330 by Representative Alfredo Maranon III (2nd District, Negros Occidental), and 1446 by Representatives Jose Francisco Benitez (3rd District, Negros Occidental), Joseph Stephen Paduano (Party-list, ABANG LINGKOD), Gerardo Valmayor, Jr. (1st District, Negros Occidental) (Bacolod City).

The provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays in Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and the island province of Siquijor should comprise the NIR under the proposed law.

The architects of the proposal underlined the importance of reuniting the two Negros provinces under a single administrative zone in order to ensure that economic progress benefits the populace by fostering tight economic cooperation between the two Negros provinces.

Additionally, they claimed that because of its proximity to and cultural affinities with Negros Island, the inclusion of Siquijor Province in the planned NIR is “logical and practicable.”

Currently, Region 6 (Western Visayas) governs Negros Occidental and its capital Bacolod City, whereas Region 7 governs Negros Oriental and Siquijor (Central Visayas).

Gatchalian also praised the technical working group, which was co-chaired by Alvarez and Cebu City 2nd District Representative Eduardo Rama Jr. They spent six months deliberating and hearing various viewpoints on the creation of the NIR and made sure to produce a comprehensive bill that is acceptable to all interested parties.

Alvarez claimed in a report to the committee that the combined bill has the complete support of the business community, including the Negros Oriental Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce.

The business community has made a compelling case for enacting laws governing the NIR, she added, not only to give it a feeling of permanence but also to ensure that it continues to flourish.

The NIR was first established on May 29, 2015, when then-President Benigno Aquino III issued Executive Order 183 dividing Negros Occidental from Western Visayas and Negros Oriental from Central Visayas.

But on August 7, 2017, former President Rodrigo Duterte signed EO 38 abolishing the NIR, emphasizing the requirement to ensure that important government projects and programs are adequately funded.

Gatchalian thought that the Negrenses’ ambition for reunion under a single administrative zone would finally be accomplished in this 19th Congress with the committee’s acceptance of the combined NIR bill.

When the bill is discussed in plenary sessions, the Valenzuela City member, who serves as chair of the Committee on Local Government, will probably sponsor it.

“I commend the authors of this proposal for their tenacious pursuit of the Negrenses’ goal of merging the two Negros provinces. We reassure our Negrense brethren and sisters that this Committee will continue to support this proposal wholeheartedly until it receives the House’s ultimate approval, according to Gatchalian.

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