The Senate has approved a bill seeking to establish the Negros Island Region (NIR).
Senate Bill (SB) 2507 or the NIR Act hurdled the third and final reading in the Senate.
Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri said the people of Negros have been waiting for the creation of NIR for a long time.
“The current administrative division of the island has always posed a problem to its residents, who are forced to travel all the way to either Cebu or Iloilo in order to reach our regional government offices,” the Negrense lawmaker stressed.
Presently, Negros Occidental belongs to Region VI or Western Visayas while Negros Oriental is part of Region VII or Central Visayas.
“It is hard to deliver people-centered governance under this set-up. We have to make our government services as accessible as possible,” Zubiri said.
Under the NIR Act, regional offices will be split between Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, creating new growth areas in the region.
“I am hopeful that President Marcos sees the need for a united NIR, which is our way of bringing our services straight to our people. It is certain to improve the ease of doing business in the region, which will both empower our residents and also raise the confidence of investors in our capacity to facilitate efficient government transactions,” Zubiri said.
“By bringing our services straight to Negros Island, we hope to pave the way for greater economic and social development in the region,” he added.
On May 29, 2015, NIR was formed after former president Benigno Aquino III signed Executive Order (EO) 183 that separated Negros Occidental from Western Visayas and Negros Oriental from Central Visayas.
Two years later, on Aug. 7, 2017, former president Rodrigo Duterte signed EO 38 abolishing NIR, stressing the need to ensure that priority government programs and projects are sufficiently funded.IMT
